


I'd Freeze the Heavens for You

by Rhov



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Blood, Countdown, Death By Ice, F/M, French Kissing, Happy Ending, Hostage Situations, Ice Powers, Kidnapping, Lesbian Character, Mazes and Labyrinths, Poison, Poisoning, Rescue, Reunions, Separations, Snow and Ice, Starvation, Sweet/Hot, Temporary Character Death, True Love's Kiss, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2017-12-08 23:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhov/pseuds/Rhov
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a desperate race against time, Gray runs frantically through a massive magical labyrinth, facing monsters and slow starvation, to get Lucy back from a derange wizard. With each twist in the maze, he slowly discovers warm feelings he's been trying to suppress for a long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Labyrinth

**Author's Note:**

> _A/N: This is dedicated to Emil C, who requested that I write a GraLu fic for his birthday. Rated T for language. It was inspired by the One Piece doujinshi "Hito Ha Maigo Toiu Keredo." It's not the same, but it contains similar elements, so I'm putting credit where it's due. Speaking of that... Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I don't own it or make money off of it, I just hone in my skills by writing about it._

"Gray, Natsu, come look!" Lucy enthusiastically waved a mission flier as she came over to where Gray, Happy, and Natsu were sitting by the bar. "It looks like a really good mission, and the reward will cover my rent." She read off the mission. "Apprehend the wanted criminal Willie Whitehall, notorious terrorizer of carnivals and summer festivals. Capture him alive and bring him in for interrogation on how to undo his nefarious magic. Approach with caution. Wanted for causing fifty-two deaths and over two hundred disappearances."

"Wait a minute," Gray said, shaking his head to slow down her eagerness. "Did you say Whitehall, as in _the_ Willie Whitehall?"

Gray looked over Lucy's shoulder, way too close for the blonde's comfort, and read the job description once again. Lucy blushed a little at feeling his icy breath on her neck from how close he was.

"Have you heard of him?" asked Natsu.

Gray frowned. "Yeah. Runes wizard. He lived near my home village. Even back then, Whitehall was known for being a psychotic dark wizard with a sick fascination for fatal games. He'd show up at carnivals and such, have so-called _fun houses_ , but people never came out. He once turned an entire mansion into a haunted house and set a rule that the weak-hearted heiress of the family had to make it through the haunted house without screaming or all the family and servants would become ghosts, and she would be trapped inside with them forever. That haunted house was still there when me, Lyon, and Ur went by it one day. You could still hear the girl screaming inside, trapped in there for eternity."

Lucy shivered a little and looked back down at the flier, thinking twice about it.

"How cool!" Natsu shouted. He grabbed the flier away and looked over it for himself. "The reward is good, too. Leave it to Lucy to find the missions with the best rewards."

"Aye!" Happy agreed. "Lucy is good at finding men with money to burn."

"A runes wizard," she muttered with a worried frowned. "I dunno. I mean, it sounded easy at first, it's just one man, and a carny at that! Still … are you sure we're a good team for something like this? If you get caught in their runes, there's not much you can do. The Thunder God Tribe might be better since they have Freed."

Mira, who had been waiting patiently to see whether or not she should confirm their team's choice in mission, informed them, "They're still not back from their mission with Laxus."

Gray looked thoughtful. "Taking Whitehall down would cancel all the runes he's set up so far. It could free that girl in the mansion, and who knows how many other people he's terrorized over the years."

The Dragon Slayer thrust the flier at Mira. "We're taking it!"

"Natsu," Lucy warned, but she held back from protesting. It was she who picked the mission, after all. "I dunno, I suddenly have a bad feeling about this one."

Erza stomped forward just then. "A mission? Where?"

"Far north, Tigardus Mountains," replied Gray. "I know the area. There will be a lot of snow this time of year."

"Then pack warmly. We leave tomorrow morning," the Titania said, and Lucy knew there was no point in arguing now that Erza was set on going.

* * *

It was a long train ride, with Natsu vomiting the whole way, then a carriage ride to a place the northern locals called simply "The Maze." According to rumors, Willie Whitehall had built the hedge maze five years ago, and already it took the lives of two dozen people, plus over fifty people simply disappeared in the maze. From the outside, it looked like just a towering wall of thick bushes with a gate to enter, but there was an invisible barrier humming with magic.

Erza stepped up to the glow around the gate. "Runes," she realized. "This really must be Willie Whitehall's maze. I can't tell what they say."

Lucy touched the runes, but her hand passed right through. She cautiously began to walk past the gateway.

"Be careful," Gray said, holding onto her shoulder and also walking into the entry of the maze.

"What do you see?" Erza asked, still examining the outer wall.

Lucy looked left and right. "Just a passage made from bushes with red berries. I don't know, this is a little creepy."

"I don't care, let's go," Natsu said, and he and Happy walked toward the gate only to smack into a barrier. "Hey, what gives!"

Happy rubbed out his nose. "That hurts."

"Lucy!" Erza shouted.

"Waah! They're disappearing," Happy yelled.

The three watched as both Lucy and Gray faded from view. Erza requipped a sword and stormed forward, but she too was blocked from entering.

"What the hell?" yelled Natsu. He pounded his fists against the purple runes. "Lucy!"

Erza pulled out a mini-lacrima. "We need someone who can interpret these runes. Damn, I was too careless. I'll see if Levy can come and figure out what this is all about."

"Dammit!" Natsu shouted, kicking the gate of runes. "Why only Lucy and Gray, huh? Stupid ice bastard!"

* * *

Inside the maze, it was eerily silent. Lucy walked forward two steps to the left with her hand against the left wall.

"What are you doing?" Gray asked, watching her curiously.

"My family's estate had a hedge maze," she answered. "There's a trick to them. Keep your hand on the left wall. If you do that, eventually you'll find the exit."

A craggy voice laughed. "Smart girl."

The snow on the ground whipped into a storm. Gray grabbed Lucy and pulled her against his chest in worry. In the midst of the snowy cyclone, a form took shape, and soon an aging man with a long white beard stood before them. He took off a floppy hat, showing the shine of his bald head, and bowed in a flamboyant manner.

"Whitehall's the name, mazes are my game! I am a genius of games, and you, my dearies, are lucky enough to have stumbled into my masterpiece, a maze of epic proportions, designed especially for lovers like you."

"What!" Lucy shrieked. "Lovers?"

Gray quickly released his hold on her. "Just a minute here. It's not like that."

"Oh, but if you're here, then it most certainly is like that, my boy."

Gray glared in annoyance. "Screw this. We are from Fairy Tail, and we're here to arrest you."

Whitehall covered his mouth. "Oh dear me! You're not here for the fun? Perhaps this maze will change that frigid attitude of yours."

Lucy looked back to the gate. "Where's Erza? I don't see them." She tried to run to the entrance, but she was blocked by a wall of runes.

"No, no, sweetie. Once a person enters _Whitehall's Wonderful Winter Maze_ ," he declared the name flamboyantly with his arms stretched out, "they can't escape until they make it through to the end, and those outside can't see the people inside after ten seconds, enough time to say your goodbyes."

Gray sneered. "I knew you were a sick man. When I was growing up, parents in my village told children about you as threats to be good. Our town couldn't have a summer festival for three years because the town leaders were too scared you'd show up and wreck it."

"Oh my, that was a long, long time ago," Whitehall said with a nostalgic chuckle. "It's been simply ages since my days of carnival chaos and festival fatalities. No, I'm into mazes now, and as I said, this is my masterpiece, a true work of art, flawless in every way. It's certified as the largest maze in all of Fiore."

"And we have to beat it, right?" Gray said stubbornly. "I bet those runes out there have that as the rule."

The old man tapped the side of his nose. "Very good, boy. Even if you try to arrest me, you cannot leave until you complete the maze."

Gray sneered. "Fine. We'll play your game. How long does it take to complete this damn maze?"

Whitehall chuckled with a cruel smirk. "When I first had the maze built, I made it through here on my own in three days. Of course, I am a genius. I figure it'll take average people twice as long. That is why you have one week."

"It takes a whole week?" Lucy exclaimed. "We don't have a week."

"In a hurry?" the man asked.

"No, but we have no food or water with us. Unless there's food inside, at like checkpoints."

"Oh, no, nothing like that, sweetie. Still, you're lucky. It's snowing, so you can drink the melted snow, and the bushes that make up the maze have bloodberries."

"Bloodberries!" Gray cried out.

"Oh, don't worry," Lucy said. "I used to eat bloodberry pie as a kid. They're tasty." She began to reach toward some of the plump berries that covered the bushes.

Gray grabbed her hand and yanked it away. "Those were southern bloodberries. Northern bloodberries are highly poisonous. If you eat them, you'll die in three days."

The old wizard looked delighted. "Ah, you must be from this region. Indeed, bloodberries in the south of Fiore are edible, but the northern bloodberry is highly toxic. They smell alike, look alike, even taste alike. Only those who grew up around here know the difference. Most who enter the maze don't know the terrain, eat the berries, and die before completing the maze. Isn't that deliciously tragic?"

"How horrible!" Lucy gasped. "You purposely picked a berry others would mistake."

He held up a knobby finger. "Ignorance is no excuse. You should be feeling grateful that I went to the trouble of planting berry bushes at all. Poison is more preferable than starvation."

"And what happens at the end of one week?" Gray asked suspiciously.

"Hmm? Oh, did I not explain that part?" Whitehall waved his hand. A massive shadowy black hand came out of the ground at Lucy's feet, wrapped around her in a tight squeeze, and lifted her into the air with a scream.

"Lucy!" Gray bolted forward but froze suddenly, worried that if he did anything, the shadow might crush her.

"She'll be waiting for you at the end of the maze, my boy. In one week, if you have not solved my maze, the girl will be frozen and it's Game Over. If you make it out after that time, you're free to leave, but she becomes my newest piece of frozen art. Have fun! Kyahahaha!" Whitehall rose into the air, and Lucy was pulled away with him.

"Gray," she shouted, reaching down to him.

Gray stretched his fingers up to her. They touched for only a moment before she was pulled out of his grasp.

"Lucy!"

"One week, boy," Whitehall called down tauntingly. "Enjoy yourself, and beware of the berries."

Gray cursed as both Lucy and the insane man floated over the maze and to the north.


	2. Aimless

Gray raced through the maze in a panic. He had one week to finish this cursed labyrinth that even the creator needed three days to complete, and he had no food. If he failed, Lucy would be frozen. Normally cool under pressure, Gray felt nothing but panic now. If it had been someone else, if Natsu had been the one abducted, maybe Gray could have kept calm and thought out a plan. Instead, it was Lucy, and his mind went into a blinding rage the minute Whitehall flew away with her.

Gray turned many corners, not paying attention to Lucy's suggestion on the proper way to escape a hedge maze. He had seen Whitehall and Lucy flying north, and that was where he tried to head. Just another corner … always, he expected to see clues just around the corner. Instead, he came across dead end after dead end, until suddenly he was back at the beginning.

"What the hell?" he shouted.

He ran in the other direction now, randomly following twists, until he realized he was in another area he had been to, considering his own shoe prints were in the snow.

"Screw this," he growled. "Ice-Make: Ladder!"

A blue circle flashed, and a ladder laid up against the hedge of bloodberry bushes. He began to climb when an annoyingly mocking mechanical voice came through the air.

" _Nu-uh-uh! This is your first and only warning. Climbing over, digging under, or destroying the bush walls all count as penalties, and each penalty will take off eight hours of your time for completing Whitehall's Wonderful Winter Maze. Play by the rules, and have a pleasantly fun day._ "

"Figures," Gray growled. "I gotta sit. It's been an hour at least. I'm going about this all wrong."

Gray walked over to a stone fountain where two corridors intersected in a cross. The fountain was frozen over, but that was fine. If the berries were poisonous, he would bet the water was, too.

Gray sat heavily, only now realizing he was panting from running around for so long. He dropped his head into his hands and yanked at the black strands of hair with a growl of frustration. Just then, the same mocking voice announced:

" _You now have six days and twenty-three hours left._ "

"Is that so?" Gray grumbled wryly. "Good to know I've screwed around for a whole hour. Goddammit!" His frustration turned to worry. A whole hour, and he had no clue what Whitehall was up to, where he went, or what he had planned. Despite himself, Gray shivered as a thousand worst-case scenarios plagued his mind. "Lucy," he whispered. "Just wait for me. God, I hope you're safe."

* * *

In a cabin placed in the dead center of the maze, Lucy sat at a table with a steaming cup of tea. She mindlessly stirred in a sugar cube and watched a video lacrima. On its screen was Gray in the maze. She could see the panic in his face, and she worried for him.

"Has he stopped running aimlessly?" a woman asked.

"Yes, looks like he calmed down," Lucy said sadly.

An svelte woman named Wisteria sauntered into the room. She had short and spiky purple hair, a bust that matched Lucy's impressive size, and an impossibly skinny waist that was showed off by jeans so loose, they hung on her hips, and a boyish teeshirt torn short so that it barely covered her breasts. She had already explained to Lucy, she was a servant of Willie Whitehall, the caretaker of this cabin, and her duty was to attend the person carried off to this place to wait while their lover completed the maze. Lucy had spent a long time fiercely denying this whole _lover_ nonsense, but Wisteria seemed not to care. She fixed tea, baked some cookies, and gave Lucy the video lacrima that was tied into cameras stationed all over the maze. This allowed the girlfriend to watch, and it provided Whitehall with his sick entertainment.

"God, I hope you're safe," she heard him say.

"Gray," Lucy sighed. She touching the face that showed a tear sliding down such pale skin. "Idiot. Don't worry about me. I'm more worried about you."

"He can't hear you," said Wisteria. "We can see and hear your man, but he doesn't know he's being watched. This is a way for the person waiting at the end to see the true emotions of their partner."

"True emotions?" Lucy pouted at the servant's words. "I don't get this maze at all. You say it's for lovers, but Gray and I are only friends. We're teammates, nothing more."

Wisteria gazed at her with something akin to pity. "Is that how both of you feel?"

"Of course! Gray … I mean, he's cute, sure, but … lover? No way!"

The purple-haired woman sighed sadly. "Then I fear for his success. Love spurs a person on. Love also defeats the evil of this cursed labyrinth. If there is no love between you, I'm afraid, Lucy Heartfilia, that your life will be very short indeed."

* * *

Outside, Erza was on a communications device with Levy. She turned the lacrima recorder to the gateway with its wall of runes in some odd language.

"Yes," Levy said excitedly. "It's a dialectic writing unique to the Tigardus Mountain region, almost unheard of in the rest of Fiore. There's a bunch of gibberish about how great and awesome this maze is—seriously, this Whitehall man was on an ego trip while casting these runes—but what it boils down to is that the only people who can enter the maze are couples who have feelings of love for one another. The couple will be separated, and one has a week to complete the maze to save their lover from being frozen."

Natsu scratched his head in confusion. "Then why can't I enter?"

Levy blinked in shock. "Do you … um … _love_ Lucy?" she asked, blushing slightly in shock.

"Sure! I love all of my guildmates," he declared boldly.

Erza rubbed out a throbbing vein. "Not that type of love, idiot."

Levy clarified, "The word used signifies _romantic_ love."

Happy looked at the purple writing in confusion. "But Gray and Lucy aren't dating, although Gray lllllllllllikes her."

Erza hummed thoughtfully. "Do the runes specify that it has to be requited love?"

Levy looked through the lacrima again, squinting as she tried to read it. "No, nothing about that. Just that the romantic love has to be mutual."

"I still don't get it," Natsu pouted.

Erza sighed as she comprehended far more than just the meaning of the runes. "Lucy must like Gray in a romantic way, and Gray feels the same. The two just haven't come to acknowledge it yet."

Happy giggled. "Lucy llllloves Gray! Gray and Lucy, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

* * *

Inside the maze, Gray was back at work, one hand on the left wall like how Lucy had begun to do it. Always follow to the left wall: that was what she said. Of course, that worked best when a person began that rule from the beginning and not an hour into the maze. He could have been leaving marks behind too, dropping berries or crumbs of ice or … or _something_. Instead, like an idiot, he had panicked. Having Lucy taken away made him unable to think. He ended up just running around and getting lost.

It was dark now. The sun sat early this far north during wintertime, and the night was going to be brutally cold for everyone except him. He already felt hungry, but he knew he could not eat the poisonous berries until starvation was inevitable. He realized it had been foolish to run around. Now his energy was burned off. He needed to consider his route and not race through blindly.

As the darkness intensified until he could see nothing and only knew the direction by the hand that stayed on the left wall, he really wished Lucy was there. She was smart; she probably could find her way out of this maze in less than three days. He worried about her being with that psychopath, but Whitehall at least seemed like a man who stuck to the rules of his own game. He would not dare hurt Lucy … not for one week, at least.

" _You now have six days and sixteen hours left._ "

Hearing the time limit chime every hour made Gray want to start running again, but he had to calm himself. It was dark, and he had nothing with which to build a fire. He guessed some people in the maze froze to death. Luckily, he had no problem with the cold. It was food that troubled him. His stomach was twisting. The plump red berries shining in the moonlight seemed to mock him.

Gray knew he needed sleep. Although he was wasting time with dreams, he had to pace himself. Going delirious from lack of sleep would be far worse than six to eight hours of rest. If only his stomach would stop growling.

He settled down as well as he could. The snowy ground was not a problem, but the hard path underneath gave no comfort. He pulled his hood down low to block the tempting view of the berries and tried to get a little sleep.

* * *

In a manor far to the north, Whitehall watched his screen.

"Thus, the little wizard sleeps fitfully his first night," he said, narrating his own scene. "A rather uneventful day, but only because he's one lucky boy. He might have gotten lost at first, but that one twist he made at random put him a full day closer, and avoided three pitfalls, than if he had followed the left wall from the very beginning. See, I know the left wall trick, so I designed this maze to work against that. Following the left wall will take the longest and bring you into the most dangerous zones. But it seems he's stubbornly following that advice now. Good! That'll make it more entertaining for me. I estimate it will take him three more days, if he follows his current pace and avoids the pitfalls. Oh, and if he can withstand the hunger and the brutal winter chill."

Whitehall pressed his fingers together, enjoying the crackling fire that cast ominous shadows on his bearded face.

"Still, that's only half the fun. Then there is the girlfriend. Or maybe I should say, the unrequited lover."

He looked over to another lacrima screen that showed Lucy sitting at a table, ignoring the food Wisteria had made for her, her brown eyes focused on the lacrima of Gray trying to sleep.

"Will the two discover their buried feelings for one another? Will that spark of love fizzle before it can ignite? Yes, these two are truly entertaining. Not really lovers, yet both have feelings for one another hidden so deep inside, they can't confess it to themselves. I've not seen that before in this maze. It makes things oh-so-deliciously more suspenseful, and that, boys and girls, is what I _live_ for."

Whitehall looked up to his _audience_ , an entire corridor lined with massive crystals of frozen bodies, mostly women, although one was a man from a rare chance when a gay couple had wandered into the maze.

"Yes, you all know how I love tragic entertainment." He walked up to one of the frozen girls, her face forever captured weeping for a lover who never showed up. "Isn't that so, my dear? Love is most beautiful when in the throes of tragedy. That is why I consider each and every one of you true art." He stroked the magic ice that encased the girl. "Like this, you are forever perfect in my eyes, filled with such emotion. Artists can never hope to capture what I have here: the expression of love shattering into woe. That's why I built this maze. It either transforms lukewarm love into fiery passion, or it perfectly captures the greatest tragedy of love, frozen for all time. Why, I got into the carnival business because I loved to see emotions on people's faces: grimaces of terror at a roller coaster, screams of panic in a haunted house, faces turning green as a ride makes their stomach hurl, and afterward, all is jolly laughs once more. Expression! Emotion! Such inspiring art!"

He strode through the hall lined with crystal frozen figures, each with agony and sadness on their faces.

"Another piece shall join us soon. That boy lacks the passion needed to complete my maze. I predict he will fail. That blonde will make a charming addition to my art collection. I think I should place her here, by the stained glass window. Yes, the colors of the sun shining through would light up her golden hair so beautifully. I just hope she has a good face when she's frozen over."


	3. Pitfalls

" _Grrrrrrrlaaarrrooowwwgrrrroow!_ "

Gray jumped to his feet in an instant, blind with sleep, but he rapidly blinked his eyes to wake himself. Reacting on pure instinct, he had his hands out, a magic circle up, and he looked around frantically for the beastly sound.

"I knew this stupid labyrinth had monsters. I just knew it," he sneered. "Where is it?"

" _Grrrrrowwwwl!_ "

This time, he heard the same sound more clearly … and it was coming from his stomach. Gray blushed, although there was no one around to hear his stomach's complaints.

"That's right, I missed dinner. There won't be breakfast, either. Damn!" He looked around in annoyance. "I almost wish there was a monster. Then I could eat it."

He rubbed out the twisting in his gut and realized he had to get going.

"Follow the left wall," he recalled. That had been Lucy's advice for successfully completing a giant maze. However, due to leaping up and looking around, he completely forgot which wall was the left. "Crap!"

He looked down the left passage, then down the right one. It had been so dark by the time he stopped walking, he did not recognize either direction. If he went the wrong way, he would end up right back where he started the day before. Gray felt panic surging up. He only had a week to make it through this blasted maze, and who knew what horrors Lucy was suffering while he got lost. So which way was he supposed to go? Left, or right?

_Which way?_

Then he looked down at the snow. As he slept, his body had melted the snowy path. He could see where his head had laid and where his feet had gone. He recalled lying down against the left wall. Gray reached out and touched that wall.

"This one," he sighed, trying to calm down. "I follow this wall. To get out of a maze, you follow the left wall. That's what Lucy said, and Lucy's smart. Left wall. Left wall…"

" _You now have six days and eight hours left_."

Gray looked up at the voice that chimed out. He had vaguely heard it counting the hours all night long. He realized, he had already been in this labyrinth for sixteen hours. It felt like a lifetime!

"I'm coming, Lucy," he said with determination, and Gray set out once again with one hand on the left wall.

* * *

Outside, Erza, Happy, and Natsu were camped in front of the maze entrance. While Happy cooked fish for breakfast and Natsu attempted to make tea, Erza stood in front of the gate still blocked by Willie Whitehall's runes. She frowned deeply with her arms folded, trying to sort out this mystery. The runes would not let them enter. Gray was inside, Lucy was apparently a _prize_ that Gray had to reach.

She had asked Happy to fly over the top, but he could not enter from above. Apparently, Whitehall's runes covered the entire maze. It proved he was an immensely powerful wizard, to have runes spread over such a massive piece of land. Happy said he saw Gray running around the twisting bush hedges, so at least they knew he was unharmed. Happy tried to fly over the whole thing, but he did not even get close to the center before tiring out. All they knew was that this maze was massive, bigger than the entire city of Magnolia.

Erza mumbled to herself. "The only people who can enter the maze are couples who have feelings of love for one another," she said, quoting what Levy told them was written within the runes. "The couple will be separated, and one has a week to complete the maze to save their lover from being frozen. Hmm … only lovers can enter."

"Maybe we should find Jellal," Happy suggested. "He llllllllikes you!"

The murderous glare she shot at him made the Exceed tremble.

"Perhaps we can find a weakness," Natsu suggested, staring at the tea he was trying to brew. "Hmm … is it supposed to look this color?"

"A weakness, huh?" Erza looked down the left side of the bushy wall, then the right. They seemed to go on forever. To have runes spread out over something this massive … Freed was the best runes wizard she knew, and although he could set up traps over a large city, casting runes over an entire city _plus_ traps within, and keeping all those runes up all the time would strain even a talented wizard like him. "It's possible that Whitehall made some errors. No prison is without flaws."

Happy frowned. "Does that mean we're walking around this whole maze? I told you, it's really, really big."

Erza knew the task was daunting, but it was better than sitting around doing nothing. "Gray is in there running all over this maze. Walking in a straight line around it wouldn't be anything like what he has to do. If we can get inside and help him rescue Lucy—"

Natsu jumped up. "That's right! Lucy is in danger. Let's find another way to get in."

"Aye sir!" Happy cheered.

Erza nodded. "We'll search for a weakness. I just hope Gray doesn't panic while he's inside. There appeared to be a lot of rules to this maze, and who knows what the penalties might be."

* * *

In the cabin in the center of the maze, Lucy watched the video lacrima that showed Gray's progress. She saw how he held his stomach, and she felt immensely guilty to be sitting at the table with tea and scones provided by the servant of Whitehall, the tomboyish Wisteria. Witnessing his hunger pains, Lucy could not bring herself to taste the food in front of her. It did not seem fair to eat while he slowly starved in the maze.

"You must eat, miss," Wisteria urged worriedly. "Your man wouldn't like to arrive and find you wasted away. He'll feel much better if he learns we treated you well."

"Treated me well?" Lucy glared spitefully at the tall woman. "You won't let me leave this cabin."

"It's one of Whitehall's rules," Wisteria said, looking sad that she had to enforce it. "If you leave, you will be penalized."

"Whatever," Lucy grumbled. "There's no rule that I have to eat, right? If Gray has to suffer, what right do I have to be served and sit around?"

Wisteria looked aside and muttered, "I wonder if _she_ felt that way, too."

Lucy saw Gray unzipping his pants, ready to urinate, so she pushed the screen aside to give him privacy. "She? She who?"

Wisteria sat at the table with Lucy and poured herself some steaming tea. "I too was a victim of the maze."

Lucy jolted in shock. "You? But then why are you still here? Didn't your man come for you? Why aren't you frozen?"

Bashfully, Wisteria shook her head. "No, you're mistaken. I was the one who solved the maze. It was my girlfriend who got frozen."

Lucy blushed. "Oh, you're … you're a lesbian. Sorry, I couldn't tell."

"It's not like I wear a sign announcing _I like girls_. Don't worry, I wouldn't come on to you. I don't think I could love again after all that happened back then."

Lucy pouted at such a dark tone in the lady's voice. "Why are you still here? I thought if the guy … err, that is, if the _other partner_ doesn't make it in time, if they still managed to get through the maze, they're free to leave."

Wisteria leaned back in her chair with her teacup in her hands, and she gazed out the window at the winter world outside. "Yes, I managed to make it through the maze without eating the berries, but it took me ten days. I had a pack of food, but I went through it in four days. Six days of not eating! When I finally _crawled_ out, I found my lover in this cabin, frozen solid."

"So, she's … dead?" Lucy asked in trembling foreboding.

"No … not that I know of, anyway. I managed to break my lover free from the spell; however, she was so angry that I failed to save her from the pain of being frozen, she broke up with me and left. I was shattered. I had suffered starvation for her, and I would have endured death itself to rescue her. Even though I managed to break Whitehall's spell, even though I said … well, never mind … still, she hated me. This maze," she scowled, "it brings out the worst in people. I had nowhere else to go. I felt like I could never leave and face the world without her by my side. She meant everything to me, and I … I just wanted to hide. I asked Whitehall for permission to stay hidden inside his maze. He agreed, but since he doesn't want a freeloader, my duty is to care for anyone captured in his trap. At the very least, I can give them encouragement and keep them from being lonely. If my lover had someone to talk to her, perhaps she wouldn't have turned into such a bitter soul."

Lucy felt sorry for this woman. She could see the pain in those tight eyes and hear the lonesomeness in her words. "Have you ever seen others make it?"

Wisteria sadly shook her head. "I've been in this house for three years. During that time, I've sat with many women, but I haven't seen a single male besides the mad wizard." Her eyes turned up with a dire expression to Lucy, like gazing at someone she knew was destined to die. "Many couples inadvertently enter the maze, but during my time here, not a single man has made it. Some die from the cold. Most die from eating the berries. Others fall victim to one of Whitehall's sadistic pitfalls. For three years, no man has survived this maze."

Lucy's mouth dropped. She looked back to the monitor with a shiver of dread prickling her arms. Gray had finished his nature business and was walking again. The camera shifted, and this one was focused closer on his face. Lucy could see the tenseness in his brow and determination in his eyes.

 _No man has survived this maze._ Those threatening words echoed in her mind.

* * *

Gray continued through the maze, ignoring the tugging in his stomach and the dread in his mind. He feared for Lucy. He prayed Erza, Natsu, and Happy could find a way to save her first.

" _You now have six days and one hour left._ "

"Oh, shut up already!" he yelled.

Nearly a full day, and he felt as if this maze might go on forever. He also began to wonder, since this was a magical maze, did the walls move? If so, Lucy's plan of following the left wall would fail. Could he ask?

"Hey, whoever is chiming the hours, do you talk?"

" _Sometimes_ ," the voice replied.

"Good. I've got questions. Do the walls move?"

" _The walls are plain, ordinary bushes. They only grow upward, and they are never rearranged._ "

"So you're not going to totally shift the labyrinth, like that stunt they pulled in the Grand Magic Games." He felt a little better knowing that. "Are there monsters in this maze?"

" _Oh, most certainly!_ " the voice said in a delighted tone. " _In fact, you're about to meet one._ "

"Huh?"

Gray was hit from behind. He had not heard anything at all, so the attack stunned him for a couple seconds. He looked around and saw a massive bird with a leathery black head and dark purple wings, with claws that looked like they could rip an elephant in half.

"Am I allowed to use magic?" he shouted.

" _So long as the walls of the maze are not damaged, any magic or weapons are allowed_."

"Just don't be destructive, huh?" he muttered. "Maybe it's a good thing I'm in here and not Natsu."

" _Oh, it couldn't be any other man. You're the one in love with the lady._ "

"Huh?" Gray asked, wondering what the disembodied voice meant by that. However, just then, the flying monster attacked again, diving forward with its claws outstretched. "Ice-Make: Lance."

Gray shaped the ice to be narrow enough not to touch the bush walls. Fighting in such a confined space made things difficult for him. The bird had the freedom to fly above the walls, but Gray was limited in his movements.

"Stupid overgrown pigeon," he growled.

Suddenly, a wave of weakness swept over him. Using magic took energy, which came from his own body. Having gone a full day without food, his energy was diminished. While Gray held his head in dizziness, the bird swooped down. One claw tore into Gray's shoulder. He bellowed in pain and swiftly made an ice sword to chop at the monster. He missed, and the creature flapped back up into the sky. The giant talon left behind a deep gash in his skin. Already, blood flowed down his arm at an alarming rate.

"Not good," he hissed. Starvation and blood loss: two easy ways to die. "I'm not losing after one stupid day. I have to save Lucy, and I'm not going to let anything stop me." The sword evaporated. "Ice-Make: Bazooka!" The massive weapon formed on his shoulder, and Gray held onto it tightly. "Dodge this, you buzzard."

The blast nearly knocked Gray off his feet. Ice shot up, hit the bird, and burst it into many pieces of bloody feathers that scattered around the maze.

"Damn. Too much," Gray frowned. "I was hoping to shoot it down and eat it. If I go looking for the pieces, I'll lose my way. Oh well."

The bazooka went away in a shower of snowflakes. Gray collapsed and looked over at his shoulder. Half his body was red with blood, and he already felt numbness in his fingers. He pressed the wound together as well as possible, flinching at the stinging pain, and swept his hand over the torn skin. Ice covered over it, bandaging the gash.

"Best I can do for now," he muttered. "Chalk up another scar. Maybe it'll impress Lucy."

He touched the scar on his forehead, remembering when he got it, and how Lucy had tended him. It was the first time they had flirted together, although it had been only a brief exchange. Still, that was probably when he first began to think she was cute.

"I wish Lucy could tend me again," he mumbled. His eyes began to droop down. "So … tired. Just … little nap."

* * *

Lucy watched the screen. She saw Gray pass out after the fight, and her hand caressed the view of his face.

"Oh Gray," she wept.

Watching him, being unable to go to him, tore at her heart. Hearing him mention about her healing him reminded her of Galuna Island. She really thought Gray was handsome at that time. Although she tried to flirt and did her best to accentuate her breasts while tending him, he never made a move on her in the days and weeks following that mission. That was when she realized, he must simply not be attracted to her. So they became friends and teammates. She was happy this way … mostly.

She still thought Gray was sexy. There were moments when she wished he would just give her a look, a touch, something to show her that he thought of her as something more than just another member of Fairy Tail. Something … anything…

Wisteria walked over to the table, leaned over Lucy's shoulder, and looked at the lacrima screen. "The baldbuzz bird, eh? That's a nasty one to meet up with. When I did this maze, I ran from that thing. Your lover is pretty strong to defeat it."

"He's not my lover," Lucy said automatically, hardly even listening as worries filled her mind.

"That's a nasty injury, though." Wisteria leaned in closer to look. "Some sort of ice magic, eh? Lucky. The ice will slow the blood loss, but without proper medical attention, it'll leave a scar."

Lucy chuckled to herself. "That's fine. He once told me, 'I don't care where I get hurt, as long as my injuries are visible.' For Gray, this is proof that he is a fighter. You're right, Gray's strong. If anyone can make it through this maze, it's him."

Wisteria smiled genuinely. "I hope so, and I really hope he makes it in time. If he doesn't … please heed my words: Don't be angry at him. As you can see for yourself, he's trying his hardest."

Lucy felt heat flushing her cheeks. "I can't be angry at Gray," she whispered timidly. "I mean, he annoys me sometimes with his stripping habit, but I could never hate him."

"Oh?" Wisteria chuckled, leaning in with a playful smirk. "Do you love him after all?"

Lucy stubbornly looked away. "Of course not! I just … I don't dislike him, that's all."

The tomboy chuckled and leaned back again, scratching at her spiky, purple hair. "You're cute, Lucy. If I was Gray, I'd totally think you were hot." Lucy gawked at her, and Wisteria just laughed. "Oh come on! He'd be an idiot not to think that."

"Well … um … thanks?" Lucy said with a blush. "I'm sorry, I've just never had a woman think I was hot."

Wisteria shrugged. "I bet lots of women think you're hot. It's just an awkward thing for women to admit to one another. This guy … Gray … he definitely thinks you're sexy. Otherwise, you wouldn't be in this maze. And you think he's sexy too, don't you?"

Lucy pouted and forcefully looked away. "None of your business!"

"Sorry, you're right."

Wisteria gazed down at the blonde, and a bittersweet expression troubled her face. Over the years, she had sat with many women in the cabin. She thought she had hardened her heart, knowing those women were destined to be frozen and turned into one of Whitehall's artworks. However, this young lady was different. For the first time in three years, Wisteria felt like maybe, this was a couple who could make it out.

"Keep faith in him, Lucy. I'll be cheering him on, too."

Lucy looked up in amazement, then smiled with tears of relief in her eyes. "Thanks!"

* * *

" _You now have five days and eighteen hours left."_

Gray jolted awake at the mechanical voice. It was dark already. He felt sleep creeping back up to him. His shoulder throbbed, and the layer of ice was red with frozen blood. He carefully melted it. Instantly, blood began to drip out again. The gash was not healed. It needed stitches, but he had nothing like that here. He pressed the skin together again, hissing at the pain, and created another ice bandage. Although it slowed the bleeding, it was not the best way to heal such a gash.

"Left wall," he mumbled. "Or … was it right wall? Left? Right? Shit!" His head felt so hazy from hunger and loss of blood, he could not think properly. "Left. Definitely left. So … which one is left?"

The fight had Gray a bit turned around. In the dark, he had to look hard for evidence of footprints in the snow. Bending over to look at the path and feeling the snow with his good hand, he finally found the imprints of his boots.

"I was heading this way, so…" He placed his hand on the bloodberry bush. "Left wall."

He realized that, before falling asleep again, he needed to remember which wall was the left wall. If he got disoriented again, he would end up undoing all the progress he had made over the past two days. He plucked some of the poisonous red berries and made an arrow out of them pointing to the left wall. Then, wondering if maybe birds or mice might come to eat the berries, he also squeezed one berry to stain the snow, that way even if the berries were removed, he would know which way was left.

With that precaution, Gray collapsed in the snow again. He gazed up, hoping to see stars. Instead, the sky was cloudy. He could tell that it would snow soon. It felt cold enough now, and Gray realized that a normal person would freeze to death in weather like this.

"I'm lucky," he mumbled. "Lucky … Lucy…" He felt dizzy again. "Lucky to have … Lucy." Then Gray shut his eyes and passed out into a dreamless night of pain and hunger.


	4. Penalty

" _You now have four days and two hours left_."

Lucy stared out the window, worried that it had been three days since she and Gray entered the labyrinth. She glanced briefly at the video lacrima that was now her only lifeline to him, but also a tool of torture, fueling the bitterness of guilt until she could hardly stand it.

Watching Gray on the video was too depressing. He had a constant look of dread, but lately there was pain in his face, too. She knew Gray had no food. He had suffered for three days with nothing to eat and only the snow on the ground to drink. She felt it was unfair that here she was, sitting in this warm house, a servant cooking for her, a soft bed, a roaring fire, tea and cookies, while Gray was out there walking for hours and hours, slowly going mad with hunger.

The only good thing was that he had not hit any more traps. A few times, she heard Wisteria mutter, "There used to be a monster there. I guess it died." Lucy wondered if the jerk who ran this insane labyrinth starved the animals he put in there. It was sad to think that even those beasts suffered for the madman's entertainment.

Finally, she had enough. She waited until Wisteria left to gather more firewood, then Lucy pulled out her Spirit Keys. She grabbed a gold one and held it up.

"Open the Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

In a puff of pink smoke, the dainty Celestial Spirit appeared. "I await punishment," Virgo said primly.

"I need to get out of here. The rules are that if I walk out the door, Gray will be penalized somehow. I don't want him hurt, so we're going to bend the rules. Instead of leaving out the door, I want you to drill a tunnel down and out of the cabin."

Virgo nodded dutifully. "Understood, Princess." She began to drill down through the wooden floorboards. However, not even a meter down, Virgo receive a violent shock of electricity. She cried out as her pink hair stood up on ends, crispy from the jolt. "Good … punishment." With her face in agony, Virgo poofed back to the Spirit World.

The runes around the house lit up. Lucy jolted as she saw their menacing gleam through the cabin windows. Suddenly, a voice burst out over the entire labyrinth.

" _Penalty. Eight hours have been subtracted. You now have three days and eighteen hours left."_

On the video lacrima, she heard Gray screaming, "I didn't do anything!"

" _Your partner attempted to escape_ ," spoke the same voice Lucy had just heard overhead.

"Then tell her not to! I'll make it there. Stupid girl, just wait for me!"

Lucy shouted back, "Who are you calling stupid?"

"I know she's blonde, but I didn't think she was that dumb."

"You asshole!" Lucy screamed to the monitor.

Wisteria hurried forward. "He can't hear you. And didn't I tell you not to leave the cabin? Every escape attempt is a penalty, and every penalty is an eight-hour subtraction."

Gray looked more frantic now, running despite the obvious fatigue in his gaunt face. "Just wait, Lucy. It's barely been three days. That bastard said it took him three days, so just wait. I'm probably almost there."

"He's not almost here," Wisteria muttered. Her grim face made Lucy want to scream.

"Just … just wait for me," Gray said in desperation.

Lucy touched the screen as she saw the anguish in his brow. "Sorry, Gray. I guess I should just believe in you. I'm sorry."

* * *

Outside, Erza, Natsu, and Happy had spent the past three days walking around the perimeter of the maze. Natsu dragged his feet wearily and occasionally complained about the cold. Then suddenly, up ahead they saw a change to the neverending wall of shrubbery.

"A gate inside," Natsu cheered, racing forward haphazardly. He ran up to the entrance … and smacked right into a wall of runes. "Are you serious!" he bellowed in frustration.

Erza looked around at the snowy landscape. "We've come full circle."

"Eh?" Happy cried out in shock. "A circle? I thought this maze was more in a hexagon shape."

"No, I mean…" She pointed to signs of a campfire three days old. "We're right back where we started."

"This sucks!" Natsu raged. "There wasn't a single extra opening. How does this bastard get his victims if there's only a single entrance to the stupid maze?"

"It might be all other openings are magically closed once the lovers enter the labyrinth," Erza mused.

"There's that term again," Natsu snapped. "Lovers! Gray and Lucy aren't lovers."

Happy covered his mouth and giggled. "Maybe we should find Jellal, so he and Erza can enter together."

Natsu went pale and frantically waved at Happy to shut up before the Titania punted him into the sky … again. However, Erza seriously considered it.

"If we want anyone to enter the maze, it _would_ need to be people with mutual affections, whether or not they are dating."

Happy sighed dreamily. "I'd love to go through a maze with Carla."

"But it has to be mutual," Natsu pointed out. "Carla totally doesn't like you, buddy."

Happy growled and swiped one of his claws over Natsu's leg.

"Ouch! You haven't done that since you were a kitten."

"It's a shame Natsu's doesn't have a sweetheart," Erza said. "He could probably sniff his way through the maze."

"Aye," agreed Happy. "He's too immature to have romantic feelings for someone."

"Will you two stop talking bad about me?" Natsu whined.

Erza and Happy chuckled to themselves.

* * *

" _You now have three days and eight hours left_."

Inside the maze, Gray was utterly exhausted. He could barely think from the hunger. He knew he was wasting time lying around on the ground, but he had no energy left to move.

"Just … a rest," he panted. "Maybe more to drink."

He scooped up a handful of snow and ate it.

"Why are snowcones filling, but snow itself isn't?" he grumbled.

He looked over at the bushes. Those poisonous berries seemed to be getting plumper and redder as he went deeper into the labyrinth. The temptation to eat a few was maddening, but he had to hold back.

"Berries … bet they're sweet. Northern bloodberries taste the same as the southern variety. Man, Mira made the best bloodberry pie one Christmas." He licked his lips at the memory. Then Gray growled and shook his head. "Dammit, stop talking about food, and stop talking to yourself."

He sighed and looked up at the sky. The pain in his stomach was agonizing. All around him, he saw berries, berries, berries.

"Stop taunting me!" he screamed. "Stop it!"

In a burst of anger, he destroyed one of the hedges with a geyser of ice. The runes lit up and warned him.

" _You now have three days and zero hours left_."

"Screw it," he moaned, and collapsed back onto the snow. "I'm gonna sleep."

More than just a sleep, it was more like Gray passed out. In his dreams, he swam through a vat of giant red berries, guided only by Lucy shouting at him, "Hurry, Gray. Hurry!"


	5. Berries

" _You now have one day and eight hours left._ "

It was noon of the fifth day, and Gray was just waking up. He did not feel like moving from his spot in the snow. The sky was a tumultuous silver, and he stared up as snow began to fall into his face. Still he did not move. One landed on his eyelash, and his lids closed.

He could almost see Ur standing there, her hand on her hip, giving him that stern look of hers whenever he dawdled.

"Come on, Gray. Lyon is waiting for us."

He smiled at her voice. If Ur was now in the sea, and the sea evaporated to become clouds, and those clouds became rain and snow, perhaps that meant a part of Ur was in the snowfall, too.

The flakes felt good, like little cold kisses. With his eyes closed, he saw Lucy there. She was floating above him, her golden hair draping around him, her large brown eyes gentle as she smiled tenderly.

"I want you, Gray," her voice said in a sensual wavering tone.

She kissed him, and he moaned softly. Then there were more small kisses, on his lips, on his cheeks, his forehead, his ear. Her icy kisses drifted down his neck, then over his bare chest.

"L-Lucy…" he moaned.

He reached up, but his hand went through the ghostly image of her. He wanted to hold her, to touch her, be warmed by her, and kiss her. He wanted to taste her plump lips and suckle those sumptuous breasts.

"Lucy," he sighed as the hallucination faded away.

He felt his mind drifting on the delirium of hunger. He opened his eyes again to see the baccate bushes beckoning to him with their crimson temptations. He realized there was no way he could make it in thirty-two hours if he lacked the energy to walk.

He dragged himself over to the left bush wall, the one he had been following before collapsing. It was still marked with the arrow of berries he made every night to remind him which path to take. He picked up those berries, now frozen in the snow, and stared at the ripe color.

He shook his head. As a child, he had been warned about bloodberries. If you ate one, you would not feel the effects instantly, but a day and a half later, enough time so that you forgot what it was you ate, that was when the poison would affect you. It hit the muscles first, causing extreme agony in the arms and legs. Then it hit the stomach, severe vomiting and diarrhea, and the dehydration intensified the muscle pain and delirium. Then it reached the brain, causing deliria and paranoia. It was not unheard of that someone with bloodberry poisoning might murder their own family in madness. Finally, after three days, death. Antidotes were rare, and it only stopped the advancement of the poison, not the effects already wrecking havoc on the body. It took a magical healer, a powerful one, to reverse the poison's effects. The only healer he knew of that magnitude was Wendy, and she was back in Magnolia.

He might make it out of this cursed maze without eating, but his progress would be incredibly slow. He had only thirty-two hours to reach Lucy. If he could not make it by then…

Was his life really worth living if he lost Lucy? How could he face his friends if they found out he saved himself but sacrificed her?

Gray looked at the crimson berries, then up into the sky. He heard Lucy's laugh and saw her smile in the clouds. Her lips were as red as those berries. He wanted to see that smile again, if just once before the end.

"To save Lucy," he said in a raspy voice, "I'll risk it all."

Then he popped a berry into his mouth. It was sinfully sweet, and his stomach sensed the return of nutrients. He grabbed two more berries and chewed them, spitting out the seed in the middle. Then he scooped up all the berries that made the arrow and put everything, berries and snow, into his mouth. As he chewed, he plucked off more and more berries, barely waiting before putting them into his mouth. Blood red juice dripped down his chin and stained the pure white snow.

* * *

In the cabin, the lacrima screen beeped, and a new counter began.

Lucy jolted, having fallen asleep at the table while watching Gray. The camera now was at a bad angle. She could only see his back. However, the new ticking counter was what caught her eye.

"What's that?" she asked.

Wisteria came over from where she was cooking in the cabin's kitchen. Her brow tightened when she saw the screen.

"That idiotic fool! He's eaten the berries."

Lucy gasped in horror and looked at the screen again. She still could not see well, but she realized Gray's hands were ripping off berries from the bushes. His head turned for a moment as he spit out the seeds, and she saw the bloody stains on his chin.

Suddenly, she shrieked, " _Nooooo!_ "

Lucy jumped up and ran to the door. Wisteria bolted after her and held Lucy in a vise-like grip just before her hand could reach the doorknob.

"You can't go out there. You'll give him another penalty, and his time is limited already."

"I don't care," she sobbed. "If he eats those berries, he'll die."

"It's too late, Lucy," the woman warned. "Even if he vomits them this very instant, the poison is in his blood." She sighed and rested her head on Lucy's back. "I'm sorry. There's nothing either of us can do now."

Lucy collapsed to her knees. "No … please, God, no!"

Wisteria sat with her and hugged Lucy into her chest. The purple-haired woman stroked that blond hair and rocked Lucy gently, trying to give her what comfort she could under her limited circumstances as a servant to a madman.

"We can't do anything but pray, Lucy. If he makes it in time, perhaps Whitehall will be merciful and get Gray to a healer before it's too late. Or maybe your friends can rush him to the nearest town. Just keep hope in him."

Lucy nodded while sniffling. She slowly stood, her knees shaking, and Wisteria helped her back to the table. Gray had eaten his fill, and already he looked more alert. He cleaned off the horrific berry stains with a bit of snow.

"That's … odd," Wisteria mumbled. "The counter shows how many days he has left before the berries kill him, but it says two days and not three."

"Is it because he ate so many?" asked Lucy.

"Quantity doesn't matter with this poison. Northern bloodberry poisoning is determined by body temperature. Someone who is hot burns off the poison, but it flows more readily in someone who is cold. If this is showing he only has two days, Gray must be frozen near death. Considering he lost his shirt sometime yesterday, that's not surprising, I guess."

"No, that's just how he is," Lucy assured her. "He's an ice wizard, so his body temperature is much lower than normal people."

"That's not good," Wisteria frowned. "I'm not sure if he'll have time to get to a healer now."

"How much longer until he reaches the cabin?"

Wisteria hummed as she looked at the area around Gray. The ice wizard rose and began walking again. As he moved away, the monitor suddenly flicked to a camera at a different angle. "I don't know this section," she mused thoughtfully, "but I would say he's a little over one day away."

Lucy looked at the main counter. One day and eight hours. Gray could make it! There was still hope!


	6. Destructive

Gray felt better now that his stomach was full. In the back of his mind, he knew he was already a dead man. It was just a matter of time. Still, if he could rescue Lucy and save her life…

It was worth it to save her.

His body felt sluggish. He had been roaming this maze for … how long?

" _You now have one day and seven hours left."_

Yeah … thanks.

He had no clue how big this maze was. He just kept following Lucy's advice: follow the left wall. It would probably take him through every twist and turn in this diabolical maze, but it was better than wandering for eternity.

Or at least until the berries killed him.

He heard a roar from somewhere and paused. Gray fisted up his hand and prayed that whatever made such a rumbling growl was in another part of the labyrinth, nowhere near him, and he would not have to fight in his weakened condition.

No such luck in this maze.

Two more twists of the path, he saw a massive purple baboon in front of him. The animal jolted around with a steaming snort and glared with red eyes. When it roared, Gray saw huge tusks in its mouth.

"Just great," he grumbled.

While the baboon stomped forward, Gray reached to the bushes, grabbed a handful of berries, tossed them to the ground, and stomped on them, making a red splatter. That would show him which wall he had been following so he would not get turned around while fighting. Then he glared at the beast and pounded his fist into his hand.

"Ice-Make: Spear!"

* * *

In his mansion, Whitehall watched the battle on one of his observation lacrimas.

"A smart boy, still following the left-wall rule. It's the long way around, but it'll bring him to his destination … eventually. However, he has eaten the berries. How long does he really have left? Sacrificing himself for his beloved … this is what I love about my job. I get to see so many emotions. The determination when he ate those berries … oh, if only I could have frozen him right at that moment so I could see that face all the time."

He looked to another monitor, where Lucy and Wisteria sat in the central cabin, watching their own screen with rapt attention. Lucy was biting her knuckles as Gray barely dodged a fist from the baboon that shattered the stone floor under him.

"The girl still has hope, although she knows the bloodberries will kill him. Love truly is blinding. The boy is as good as dead, yet she cheers him on as he fights. Not for hope of her own rescue, no. Like him, she would probably risk her life for the boy, all without fully realizing why someone does such a foolish thing. I wonder if she realizes he has accepted death due to his deep love of her. Does she fully understand why he did it? I wonder. For that matter, does this ice wizard even understand why he has sacrificed his life to reach her in time? They are blind to their hidden love, and blinded by that love. I hope they both see it before the end. Ah, but what is this?"

Whitehall looked to yet another monitor based outside of the maze. Usually, he never monitored the outside, but the group of Fairy Tail wizards trying to break in had caught his interest.

"It seems the rescue party has gotten bigger. Fascinating. And those two," he said, leaning in to see a green-haired woman and black-haired man. "Lovers, for sure. Married, if I had to take a guess by their casualness around one another. These Fairy Tail wizards are indeed smart. They figured it out. Only people who love one another can enter this maze. Ah, but there's more to it than that. The ride isn't over yet, folks. You'll have to wait your turn if you want to play with Willie Whitehall."

* * *

Outside, Levy had finally arrived with Bisca and Alzack. They realized that the best way to enter the maze was to play by the rules, and the only (openly) in love wizards were the Connells. The married couple came prepared with food. Bisca understood the risk, and Alzack looked determined to enter the maze and succeed. Happy had mapped out as much of the maze as he could, and Levy took his drawings to determine the best route.

However, when they tried to enter, the runes block them. Alzack and Bisca walked right into a solid wall of magic.

" _Nuh-uh-uh_ ," came a voice. " _One at a time, please._ " The runes flashed more writing.

"Levy?" Erza asked, glaring at the foreign letters.

Levy squinted and read aloud, "The maze only allows one couple at a time to enter."

Alzack frowned in frustration. "Which means we can't go inside to rescue Lucy and Gray."

"I'm afraid so," Levy pouted. "I'm sorry for dragging you two out here. There was nothing about this in the initial rules."

Erza hummed to herself. "I wonder if he makes rules up as he goes."

"That's bull!" Natsu shouted. "He can't just make rules up however he pleases. We gotta rescue those guys. Stupid maze! I'll burn this entrance down."

Levy turned in horror. "Natsu, no!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Flames shot out of his mouth, directed through his hands, and erupted against the bushy entrance.

The runes flash red and a siren rang in deafening wails. Magic sprinkles appeared above the entrance and doused the fire immediately.

"Natsu, you can't!" Levy yelled in anger mixed with terror.

* * *

Inside the maze, Gray nearly collapsed in exhaustion, but the baboon was down. Gray had not wanted to actually kill it. It was a prisoner of this maze, the same as him. However, he had no choice. That took way more energy out of him than it should have, and it took far longer than a fight with some animal normally would. Simply knocking the monster out would have been too challenging. Gray opted for a quick kill. At least it was merciful. The animal would no longer be trapped in this insane labyrinth.

Suddenly, the runes overhead flashed crimson.

" _Penalty. Eight hours subtracted. You now have twenty-three hours remaining."_

"What?" he screamed. "I didn't do anything. Don't tell me that was some no-kill monster."

" _No, all monsters in Willie Whitehall's Wonderful Winter Maze are there to be defeated in any way deemed fit, including death. However, someone set the hedge on fire._ "

"Fire?" It took Gray less than a second to realize what must have happened. "That idiot flame-brain! I'm not associated with that guy. What he does shouldn't affect me."

" _I'm sorry, but all damage to the maze will give you a penalty._ "

"Shit!" Gray hissed, and he began to hurry, his hand to the left wall so he would not get lost.

* * *

Erza had Natsu in a half-nelson, choking the flames out of him.

"It's a penalty," Levy explained in anguish as she read the red-flashing rules. "All damage to the maze will penalize the player."

"What?" Natsu yelled. "That's not fair. What if a blizzard came and destroyed the whole maze?"

Erza released Natsu and hummed to herself. "I wonder … _what if_ the entire maze was destroyed in one blow? A single blow would be only one penalty. Gray would have time to run through the destroyed maze and get Lucy even if he had to get an eight-hour penalty."

Bisca pointed out, "But anything that destructive could kill Gray."

"Ah, I guess so," Erza realized.

Natsu laughed maniacally. "Not if I burn _the whole thing_." He rubbed his hands together as if ready to take up the challenge.

Erza shook her head. "It took us three days to walk around this maze. I don't think even you can burn down something this huge in one breath. We now have less than one day to figure something out before Lucy ends up frozen. Come on, everyone. We need to think fast."


	7. Countdown

Lucy could not sleep that night. It was two o'clock in the morning. Watching the monitor, she saw Gray pushing himself through the night. He dared not stop now, and definitely not for many hours of sleep. At every chime of the maze's annoying voice, the fear in his eyes intensified.

" _You now have nine hours left._ "

Lucy glanced over to where Wisteria had fallen asleep on the couch. Slowly, Lucy left the monitor and crept through the cabin. It was dark outside. Nobody would see her. Even if there was a penalty, she could run away before the mad mage returned to freeze her. She could not continue to sit there in that warm house, with food and a soft bed, merely watching passively while Gray suffered. It pained her too much. Just watching him brought tears to her eyes and made her heart burn deep inside. If he could not make it to her in time, she would run to him. Together, they would figure something out, or at least they could fight together.

She wanted to be together with Gray again. More than anything, she wanted to see him. It was worth any risk, just to hold him and get him help before the berries poisoned him.

She tiptoed to the door, cautiously took the handle, and twisted it. She had feared it might be locked, but the handle twisted soundlessly. Then she slowly pulled the door back. Icy air blew in, and she heard a snort as Wisteria began to wake up.

"Lucy?" came a sleepy grumble.

Lucy threw the door open and made a run for it. Maybe nobody would see. Maybe the dark would hide her.

No such luck.

The area overhead blazed red.

" _Penalty! Eight hours subtracted. You now have one hour left._ "

"No!" a man shouted.

She heard the scream and looked toward the hedges. "Gray?"

"Lucy?" She heard feet running so close, he was probably on the other side of the hedge. He yelled frantically, "Lucy!"

He was so close! "Gray! I'm here. I'm going toward—" Suddenly, Lucy's legs froze together, and she fell into the snow. "Ahhh," she screamed as the ice burned her skin.

"Lucy!" Gray yelled in a panic. "What happened?"

"My … my legs." She looked down and saw the ice. "My feet are frozen together. I can't walk."

Wisteria came out of the cabin. "I told you, you can't leave."

"Who's that?" Gray demanded.

"She's been taking care of me."

Wisteria gazed through the darkness at the hedge. "My, he's close! Sadly, there's still one more loop around from that location. It takes much more than one hour."

"Dammit! I'll just blast through this bush then. Ice-Make—"

"She'll freeze if you do," Wisteria warned sharply. "You have one hour, and the penalty for destroying the bush will end the clock. I'd help, but that's cheating and you'll be penalized also. Any more penalties and time will be up. You need to run, boy! Run fast."

"Shit!" Gray growled, and they heard his steps pound away. "Wait for me, Lucy. I'll definitely be there." Then his footsteps faded away.

"He won't make it," Wisteria said sadly. "For what it's worth, Lucy, I'm truly sorry. Not even I can do anything now." She began to turn back into the cabin.

"Wait," Lucy yelled, stretching her hand out. "Why are my feet frozen like this? Is it just because I tried to run away?"

"No," Wisteria answered with a regretful sigh. "It's part of this damn, twisted game. Because the woman will try to run away at the end, her legs will be frozen when there is six hours left. Now your boyfriend has only one hour to make it in time, so the freezing has already begun." Wisteria turned aside and walked away, going past the cabin. "I've seen too many women get frozen, and I truly can't stand the screams anymore. It was pleasant spending these few days with you. You're a lovely girl, Lucy … very much like my girlfriend Opal was. It's no wonder Gray fell in love with you."

"Wait!" Lucy shouted. "At least help me get back into the house. If I can get by the fire, this will melt."

"Not even a dragon's flame can melt that ice," Wisteria told her. "Nor can it be shattered. There's only one way to break the spell."

"What is that?" Lucy asked, pulling herself along the ground.

Wisteria looked back at her with a sad gaze. "He has to say the words you've always wanted to hear."

"Words … I want to hear?" Lucy asked in confusion. "I don't get it."

She shrugged and turned away. "Only you know what you want to hear, and only he can say it. Whitehall told me that most men who make it this far only to see their girl frozen gave up and didn't even try to save her. Whitehall has a huge collection of frozen women. I've seen his sickening hall filled with them. I've heard that one or two couples made it out together, but that was before my time. It looks like Gray will at least make it here alive. You should be happy for that. Pray he loves you enough to try saving you. Maybe you can leave him a clue on what to say."

"But I don't know what that is," Lucy shrieked. "Wisteria?"

The woman kept walking. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I … I really can't take it anymore," she said, sniffling with grief. "Not with you, not after we've become friends. I just … I can't watch. I've seen it too many times, I'll go insane if I have to watch you suffer as well. I'm so sorry."

"Wisteria!"

The purple-haired woman ran off, covering her face as she sobbed. Then, suddenly, she vanished. Only her footprints in the snow showed that anyone had been there.

* * *

Gray ran frantically. He no longer heard Lucy's voice, but now he knew she was very close. He blinked out dizziness. Lack of sleep, lack of food, and the poison slowly running through his veins and affecting his nervous system all made concentrating a challenge.

Left wall! Left … left? Right? No, left.

"What's happening to Lucy?" he shouted, holding his head as the dizziness got worse. "Come on, I know someone out there is watching me. At least tell me what's going on."

The maze's voice spoke to him. " _At the six-hour marker, the sweetheart will begin to freeze. It's to make sure she doesn't run away in desperation. Usually the freezing happen_ _s_ _over a six-hour period and in six phases, but due to the penalty of leaving the cabin where she had been confined, the phases have already begun. Rather than over six hours, it'll happen over sixty minutes in ten minute phases. First her feet up to the ankles, which are already frozen. It's quite painful._ "

Gray began to run faster at that, sneering as he thought of Lucy in agony.

" _Then she'll be frozen up to the knees, then to the waist, then just over her chest. At that phase, her heart will start to slow down due to the cold. Then she'll be frozen up to the mouth, still able to breathe through her nose but unable to scream for help. Finally, when the timer runs out, the ice will cover her head, and she will be completely frozen._ "

"What happens then?" he shouted.

" _Game over. You lose. The frozen statue of Lucy Heartfilia will become the property of Willie Whitehall._ "

"No!"

Gray raced through the darkness, one hand to the left wall, the fingers scraping and bloodying as they flew past the red berry bushes to guide his way. Hunger and fatigue were forgotten as Gray pushed himself onward, running in the dark as if trapped in a nightmare.

Then suddenly, he saw glowing golden eyes up ahead and the growl of a large dog.

"Oh _hell_ no," he sneered. "Toss all you want at me. I'm blasting through everything to get to Lucy. Ice-Make: Lance!"

* * *

Lucy pulled herself over the frozen ground. With her feet frozen tightly together, she could not really even crawl, but inched like some sort of worm. She had to keep stopping as the snow made her hands go numb. She had not thought to pull on warmer clothes. She shivered, and the painful iciness on her feet did not help.

She heard something rumble, then the sound of an explosion. It was a distance away, but still close enough to see a sudden pillar of ice rising within the surrounding maze.

"Gray," she whispered, realizing he must be fighting the last of the challenges in this diabolical labyrinth.

She watched, hoping to hear or see more. The ice pillar remained. Perhaps it was trapping something. She hoped that meant Gray won and simply left the frozen beast in place.

Suddenly, the ice crept up her legs and went up to her knees, aching her skin until it was so cold, it felt scalding. She cried at the pain and rubbed the skin just above the ice.

"It hurts … hurts, hurts," she sobbed. She looked back out to the maze. "Gray!" she shouted as loudly as she could. "If you can hear me, please, hurry."

* * *

Gray did hear her, but only faintly, not enough to make out the words. Still, there was desperation in the echoing tone of her voice.

" _Congratulations on defeating the direwolf. You now have fifty minutes._ "

Gray held a dripping gash to his arm where the direwolf had managed to graze him with its massive claws. Once again, he was wounded with no time to properly tend to it. He cast a bit of ice over his arm to slow down the bleeding. Then he grabbed hold of the bush to pull himself up and looked around at the maze corridor.

Which way had he been going?

Which wall was the left one?

He looked one way, then another down the endless passages of berry bushes. He began to panic. Which way had he just come from? There was no snow on the ground here to check his tracks.

"Dammit!" he shouted.

" _Forty-nine minutes left. Just to let you know, your sweetheart has been frozen up to her knees. Did you hear her shout for you? She was crying in pain._ "

"Shut up!"

Gray picked a direction and ran. As the minutes ticked by, the maze counted them off. He hated hearing those numbers.

" _Forty-two minutes. Forty-one minutes. Forty minutes left remaining. Your sweetheart has been frozen up to her waist. Her precious treasured area is encased in ice._ "

Precious treasured area? Gray hardly cared about that. He heard another female scream and realized it must be Lucy. Tears began to blind him. This maze seemed to never end, and now it was a true nightmare, unable to run fast enough, unable to get to her.

" _Thirty-nine minutes._ "

"Shut the hell up!"

* * *

All was slowing down for Lucy. She felt like she had been lying in the snow for ages, immobile, gasping for air. The ice had come up to her chest, and she felt her whole body turning sluggish. She could barely move her chest enough to breathe. Her arms had also frozen over when she reached up to grab the icy ache in her heart. Now they stayed there, her hands pressed to her chest, as if pining for the man she hoped would come in time.

She still wondered about what Wisteria said. What were the words she wanted to hear? Shopping trip? New Celestial Spirit key? Free rent?

She could no longer move her hands, but if she could figure out what she wanted to hear, that would break the spell. Maybe she could still leave Gray a clue.

"G-Gray…" she whispered, shivering. The minutes passed so slowly. Her heart thumped … thumped … thumped … so slow, so deliberate. "What … do I want … t-to hear?"

She wanted to simply see him, hear his voice, and feel his strong arms around her. She wanted to hold him and thank him for all he put up with. She wanted to say…

What?

"Gray," she sobbed. Wisteria said he would not make it. He was so close. If she had just stayed inside, he would have made it here just fine. Now he had only a few minutes left.

Suddenly, she felt the ice creeping up again. She wanted to scream, but her lungs did not have room to move. Only a low groan escaped as the ice crackled up her throat. It was painful, but she still had hope.

Gray would make it.

He would save her.

She tried to smile as she told herself that. He would come. He would free her from the ice. And once she was free, she wanted no other ice on her skin but his. Gray's ice was okay, but this wicked ice magic was like being touched in a bad way.

She wanted Gray's touch.

She wanted his smile.

The ice went over her mouth as she thought those bittersweet desires, freezing a sad smile onto her face.

* * *

" _You now have three minutes._ "

Gray was nearly blind with desperation. His lungs burned from running so frantically for almost an entire hour. His legs wanted to stop and rest, but the countdown kept drawing up more and more adrenaline, pushing him on. Blackness threatened his vision. He wondered if the racing of his heart was speeding up the poison. Still, he did not give in to the pain. His feet kept stomping onward

"Lucy?" he yelled.

" _She can't respond. The ice has covered her mouth. That's why it's so silent. She could be right in front of you, but she can no longer shout for you. That way the couple doesn't cheat by having the man follow her voice. She tried to call out to you a while ago, but her frozen lungs made that rather impossible._ "

Gray hated the taunting. He made another corner, a sharp ninety-degree turn, only to see a dead end. He screamed but quickly continued on, trusting Lucy's advice about following the left wall all the way to the end.

"Follow the wall. Follow the wall!"

" _Two minutes_ ," the maze chimed. " _At this point, her heart is beating only barely enough to keep her conscious, she can only breathe tiny breaths through her nose, and she is fully immobilized. At least she's no longer in pain. By now, her nerves have completely_ —"

"Shut up!" Gray snapped, racing onward. "Just shut the hell up. Come on, where does this damn maze end?"

" _One minute. Shall I do a countdown? Fifty-two, fifty-one_ …"

"I said shut up!"

* * *

Back at the cabin, Lucy was encased in ice. Only her nose, eyes, and ears were still in the open. She could hear Gray's boots, but she could not call to him. All she could do was lie there, staring up at the dark winter sky, not even stars to gaze upon, just darkness as she waited.

_'I trust you, Gray. Even if you're too late, you'll find a way to free me. I know you will, because … I…'_

Then her eyes opened wide.

She knew it! She knew the words she wanted to hear him say.

And there was no way to give Gray a hint.

* * *

" _Twenty, nineteen, eighteen_ …"

Gray wiped tears and sweat from his eyes as he ran. Just a little more, he told himself. She had to be just around the next bend.

" _Eleven, ten, nine_ …"

Gray couldn't believe it. There was no way he could let Lucy be frozen. No!

" _Five, four, three_ …"

Gray saw a turn in the hedge up ahead. He ran with all of his might and grinned in relief. "Lucy, I'm—"

When he turned, it was yet another dead end.

"No," he whispered, shuddering in horror. "No, no … I…"

" _Two, one. I'm sorry, but time is up. You lose. Lucy Heartfilia has been frozen. Game over. Thank you for playing._ "

Gray collapsed to his knees and stared straight ahead in disbelief.

"Lucy," he whispered.

Her laugh came to his ears, and he saw the twinkle in her eyes. Then in his mind, he saw that joyful face turn blue and freeze over. Just like he had seen Ur turn to ice, so in his mind he saw Lucy freeze, crack, and become ice. Gray shook out the vision and forced himself back up to his feet.

"I'm not giving up. Even if I failed you … Lucy…" Tears dripped down his cheeks. "Even still, I'm not leaving you behind. I won't let that bastard take you away from me."

Resolutely, Gray kept onward. Even if she was frozen, he was an ice wizard. He would free her, simple as that.

"I'm coming, Lucy. You can yell at me later for being late." He plodded onward with defiance.


	8. Ice

Gray stumbled on through the maze, plodding forward. His fingers were numb from holding them out, following the bushy wall with fierce determination crackling in his eyes. His legs dragged wearily from all the running earlier. He was not worried about time anymore. He just knew he had to keep going, one step at a time, continuing forward to the end. Each step brought him closer to the end of this nightmarish ordeal.

Suddenly, Gray stumbled and fell to his knees. He coughed harshly, and blood sprayed out of his mouth. He realized that the poison was really starting to take hold. He knew the effects of bloodberries, having grown up around here and hearing horror stories about them. He was not sure how long he had, it was different for every person, but he guessed he did not have much more than a few hours left. If he was going to find Lucy, he needed to keep going, keep pushing himself, until his very last breath.

"Lucy," he groaned. Thinking of her gave him strength. He grabbed hold of the bushes and forcefully pulled himself up, tearing the skin on his hands as he yanked himself to his feet again. He plodded onward. His vision blurred. Everything was spinning, swaying, tumbling with moments of darkness. He was hardly even sure if he was following the correct wall anymore. It felt like he was walking upside-down sometimes. Still, he kept one hand to the wall and followed it, no matter what his senses told him.

He had not felt the bitterness of losing in a long time, and now that shame was increased by failing Lucy's faith in him. He felt like frosting over this entire damn maze and watching it shatter into snow. Although he lost to this sadistic maze game, he was not about to give up entirely. One way or another, he would get back Lucy, even if he had to fight Willie Whitehall all by himself…

…in his weakened state … half-starved … slowly dying from poison.

It didn't matter!

At last, he saw a massive gateway of crystal and silver. Just beyond that arch was a snow-covered hill gleaming in the moonlight, and on top of the hill was a cabin with smoke rising from a chimney. Someone lived there. He stopped holding onto the wall now. Gray ran, not as fast as before, but his legs moved as quickly as he could go, just to get out of this damn maze.

When he finally stepped out, it was almost too good to be true. No more passages, no more walls, just a wide open landscape. He was unsure if it was simply part of the magic, but the air smelled fresher here, as if the entire maze had been under some enchantment and now he was in the free, open air. He realized there was much more snow around, too. Probably, the end of the maze had no snow to prevent himself from seeing his own tracks. It was a devious trick from Whitehall.

"Lucy," he shouted. Despite his weariness, Gray ran up the hill. "Lucy!"

Suddenly, he tripped and landed face-first into the snow. Gray cursed. He almost ignored the obstacle so he could run to the cabin, but when he looked back to see what had tripped him…

He saw … legs.

Frozen legs.

The snowfall had partly covered the lump of ice. He scampered over and brushed the flakes aside, exposing a short blue and white skirt. He brushed off more, flinging fresh snow left and right, until he unburied what appeared like a coffin of ice with Lucy frozen solid inside. Her body was rigidly straight, her hands folded over her chest, her eyes still gazing blankly ahead, wide open and unmoving. Her face was a captured moment in time, an odd expression on her lips, something like a sad smile that pained her whole face, as if right at the very end she realized she was not going to make it, yet still forgave him.

"Lucy," Gray screamed. He pounded on the ice. "Lucy! Dammit." He touched the clear barrier. It was cold, definitely ice, although it was so perfectly clear it could have been glass. "Hang in there."

He tried to force magic into the ice. This was his specialty, after all. He could manipulate anything frozen. So long as it was made of water, even blood could be frozen and shaped by Ice-Make magic.

Almost anything. He remembered an ice he couldn't directly manipulate.

Now again, although Gray could tell this was truly ice, something about it would not let him change the shape. He remembered in Sun Village, home of the giants, he had been able to at least use the unmeltable ice, flow its magic through his body. Not this time. For some reason, this ice was very different. Gray grunted and forced more magic into his attempt. If he could at least free her face…

He tried everything. He tried flowing the cold out, shifting the crystallization fractals, cracking it, condensing it, everything he could think of to manipulate this ice, if only a small part of it. Warm it up, freeze it more, shatter it, anything! Nothing worked. The ice did not even chip.

"Goddammit!" he shouted as nothing he tried would make the ice budge. Tears came to his eyes. "Come on! I made it here. Dammit, let me at least save her."

His magic circle grew wider, encircling both him and the frozen coffin. He saw the glow of magic make the ice glitter blue and light up Lucy's immobilized face, but not even a crack appeared in the frozen block.

"Come on!" he bellowed in rage.

Gray slammed both fists into the ice, hoping that if magic did not work, he could at least shatter it through brute strength. He pounded again and again, gritting his teeth hard, until a bone in his hand cracked from the pounding. Skin split, and his blood dripped over the crystalline block. Still, the ice did not even chip. It was a perfect rectangle, with Lucy frozen inside.

He looked at the blood and the splashes of teardrops on the coffin. Wearily, he swirled his hand. The tears and blood rose, swirled in the air, frosted over, and took the shape of a heart, only to shatter and crumble to the snowy ground. He could still manipulate normal water, even blood, but not this enchanted ice.

"Come on," he sobbed quietly in grief. He gazed down helplessly at her face. "Lucy…"

He collapsed across the coffin, resting his head in his folded arms, hiding the sobs that shook his shoulders. Gray blamed himself. He truly had failed her, and now he could not even free her. She was right here in front of him, but he could not break her out of this barrier. It was _ice_ , for God's sake! Yet he was powerless. He wasn't quick enough, and now…

Now…

Opening his eyes, he could look down at her unmoving chest. She was not breathing. He saw no twitches of a pulse on her porcelain skin. He closed his eyes and sensed deeper inside the ice barrier. He sensed the frozen blood in her veins, stopped, no pulse to push the blood through that body.

Lucy was dead.

"Lucy … I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I…"

He pulled himself out of despair. There was no time for that. She had just recently been frozen, probably no more than fifteen minutes. Even if she had no pulse, a brain could survive for up to an hour after the heart stopped if the body was thoroughly frozen. Gray wiped his tears, grabbed up the icy chunk, and dragged it into the cabin. It was warm inside, and the smell of food made his stomach twist. Still, he heaved the ice chunk and set it down carefully by the fireplace, then tossed in more logs. He fixed the fire until it was roaring.

"The one time in my life that I wish that damn flame-brain was around," Gray muttered.

Gray waited, staring at the block of ice, then at the fire. It wasn't enough! He ran around the cabin and gathered every blanket he could find, then threw them all over the ice chunk. He ran to the kitchen and put a pot on to boil. As soon as it was bubbling, he brought the kettle to the chunk of ice. He poured the piping water right over her face, hoping to melt away at least her mouth so she could breathe. However, despite pouring the whole kettle on, the ice did not melt. He put more logs into the fireplace and pulled the ice closer, then closer. Still, the ice was not liquefying.

"Dammit, melt!" he shouted, and threw the ice coffin right into the middle of the hearth. The flames were all around Lucy's body, making her hair glow orange and red, but still the ice did not even sweat a little.

He could not bear to watch her amidst flames, like a tortured soul in Hell. He pulled the encased body out. The ice coffin was not even hot to the touch, still icy despite being in the middle of the fire. He set Lucy's body on the warm bricks around the fireplace.

"What should I do?" he asked aloud, as if maybe the answer would magically appear.

How long after the timer ran out had he wandered the labyrinth? A quarter of an hour? Fifteen minutes! Just fifteen minutes, and he would have been in time.

"Dammit. Why wasn't I fast enough?" He glared down angrily. "And why did you try to leave the cabin? Couldn't you have waited for me? Didn't you trust that I'd make it in time? If you had just waited until morning, I would have been here. I'm not about to abandon you. You know me better than that, Lucy. So, why did you run out? Why did you break the rules? And why wasn't I just a little quicker?"

If he had not paused to rest his feet, or if he had slept a little less…

No use wallowing in guilt. If he had been in the maze for fifteen minutes, then Lucy had forty-five minutes before her brain completely shut down.

But what could he possibly do in that amount of time? He could not make it back out and get help. He was not going to leave her alone. He sat by her icy casket and gazed at her motionless face.

"Hey, Lucy. I wonder if you can hear me. They say patients in a coma can hear the people around them. I wonder if it's the same for you, frozen like this. I wonder if you can still hear me through this ice. I hope you can."

He sighed, then smiled.

"You know, the first time you walked into the guild, I thought you were rather cute. When Erza made the team and I got to work with you, I was really happy. I didn't want to show it, of course, especially not with that flame-brain around, but working with you, getting to see you so much … made me happy. I went from thinking you were a bit cute to thinking you really were lovely. Graceful." He gazed upon her frozen face. "Beautiful," he whispered, caressing the ice block right over where her cheek was.

He gave a heavy sigh, and blinked his eyes clear. Still, the tears spilled over, and he sniffled up his nose.

"I had fun," he said wistfully. "Being with you … it was a lot of fun. I can't imagine not seeing your smile." He held the icy block. "I'm not going to let you go," he swore, then shouted angrily, "I just wish I knew what to do! How do I break you out of this?"

He looked at her body, trapped in an element he thought he had mastered, but not to this degree. It made him feel so impotent and useless.

"Are you still alive in there?" he asked softly. "Lucy…"

He pulled the chunk of ice up into his lap and stared down at her eyes, left open in their last moment.

"Lucy," he whispered, caressing the ice right over her face. "Come back to me, please. I—"

He stopped his words. He had no right to confess to her now, not when he failed her.

"I want you back with me," he sighed.

With anguish, Gray realized there was nothing he could do to break this magic. He stood and marched out the door. The moonlight glittered on the snow, with a few flakes still falling from clouds that scuttled by. Somewhere out there in the darkness was Willie Whitehall's mansion. He did not know where, though, and it was too dark to see. He felt like rushing out there and searching for him, but he did not want to leave Lucy alone, helpless as she was.

This game was over, so what happened now? He hoped Willie Whitehall himself would come to collect his _prize_. Gray would fight him. He was unsure how good he could fight in his condition, his vision blurring, his legs going numb, but he would still fight. He would battle that sick wizard with everything he had! He would stand right in front of Lucy's frozen tomb and defend it. If Whitehall wanted her, he would take the block of ice away with Gray's blood spilled over it.

He did not want to think about that, though. He truly was unsure if he had the strength to fight, but maybe if he fought the man who cast the spell and defeated him, Lucy would be set free. He just had to wait for Whitehall to show up.

For now, Gray needed his strength. If he was going to confront Whitehall, he had to be ready to fight, not dizzy, weak, and half-starved like he was right now. He went back inside the cabin and to the kitchen. He found it well-stocked with food and supplies. He grabbed a muffin baked the day before and gnawed into it, devouring it hungrily. There was orange juice, and he drank it straight from the carton, chugging it down, with juice dripping down his chin. Any food around, he crammed it into his mouth, eating voraciously. Then finally, sated a bit, he started up some coffee. There was even creamer and sugar. It was nice to know Lucy had spent the past few days living in peace.

He walked around the cabin, searching for clues, and just trying to stay awake despite it being 4:30 A.M. However, as he walked into the bedroom, Gray was hit with dizziness. His vision went blurry, and the world tipped to the side. He grabbed hold of the wall, trying to keep himself from falling. He began to pant and sweat, his stomach cramped up, and he felt ready to vomit.

"Oh God, I … feel … n-no!" He ran back to the main room, unable to see clearly or walk straight. He crashed into a lamp, sending it shattering to the ground. He grabbed the wall, clutching it and shaking his head as the room went spinning. His ears rang like a fire klaxon. Spots danced in his eyes. Gray stumbled and crashed on top of the block of ice.

His vision blurred, blackened, then focused for only a few seconds to see Lucy's golden hair, before blurring again.

"Lu- … -cy," he whispered. "Won't … leave you…"

He draped his body over the chunk of ice, hugging it, and clung on desperately as darkness swallowed up his consciousness.

* * *

Gray jolted awake with a gasp, as if he had not been breathing. He coughed, then suddenly he turned aside and vomited. Bile and blood heaved out of his mouth and splashed onto the embers of the fireplace.

"I'm dying," he stated blandly. "Those berries, they're finally hitting me. Isn't that ironic, Lucy? Even if I free you, I'm gonna die. What a lame ending that'll make for the Ice-Make wizard of Fairy Tail."

He sat up and realized it was morning. Sunlight poured through the sheer curtains. Outside, the snow glistened with dawn. With a jolt, Gray searched around for the nearest clock.

Three hours had passed.

"No!" he screamed. He dropped to his knees beside the ice coffin. "Lucy! No … oh God, no!"

After only one hour being frozen even under the most ideal conditions, brain death occurred. She had been like this for nearly four hours, not breathing, no heartbeat. Any hope he had of resuscitating her was now gone. As he stared down at her motionless face, the truth did not feel real.

Lucy was dead.

There was no way to bring her back.

Even if he freed her, she was truly gone.

His head rose to the ceiling, and Gray screamed in anger and self-hatred. Up until that moment, he had held on to hope; however, the coming dawn arrived, not with a streak of light to ease his darkness, but with a deeper shadow to cover everything in despair.

Lucy was truly dead.

"This can't be happening. It can't be. Please, let this all be a dream. Please."

He turned away from the frozen block. He could not look down at her face. He felt unworthy of even gazing upon her. He had not only failed to come to Lucy on time, but he ruined his one chance at saving her by, of all things, passing out in weakness.

He could not stand being beside her, seeing her frozen in death. He fled to the kitchen, sobbing and angrily hitting anything in his way. He wanted to tear the whole damn cabin apart in frosty rage. Instead, he collapsed against a refrigerator, still weak from the poison. He stood there, leaning against the cold door for support, wiping tears as they tumbled down his pale cheeks.

"This can't be real. Oh God, please let this be a hallucination. It's the poison, right? This is just a nightmare. I need to wake up. I need to wake myself before time really does run out."

He pinched his arm. It hurt, but he was still standing in the silent kitchen.

"Please, let me wake up. Let this just be a dream."

Gray slapped his own face as hard as he could, but still he was awake.

"Dammit! I need to wake up. Need … to save her."

He slammed his head against the refrigerator hard enough to dent the door. Although it almost knocked himself out, he was still there, and the sun was still shining outside. He felt something wet dripping down his forehead, reached up, and saw blood on his fingers. He was definitely awake. He was not dreaming.

"Oh God, no," he whispered. "This can't—" He felt a wave a dizziness again. "Can't be happening. It can't be."

Then he saw that the coffee had brewed long ago and was now almost too strong to drink. Mindlessly, wrapped up in despair, Gray fixed himself a cup anyway. He was not about to fall asleep again.

He sipped the strong coffee and wandered around the cabin again. This was where Lucy had spent her last days. She also apparently had a caretaker. That was nice to know. She was not alone the whole time, and by the look of things, she had lived in comfort. That was reassuring to Gray. At least she had not suffered like he had.

He felt dizzy again and sat at the dining table. He noticed there was a monitor. It showed only the outside of the cabin now, lit up with early morning light. He realized Lucy must have been watching him the whole time. It made sense, a way to mentally torture her. That was why she was desperate enough to risk leaving the cabin and coming after him.

He saw that the screen had two counters. One was at zero, so that was the counter to show how much time he had to make it through the maze. The other had three more hours. Gray stared at that counter, wondering what that meant. Was that how soon Whitehall would come? Gray really wanted to kick that man's ass now.

Then in a shiver of realization, Gray figured it out. There was a little heart by the finished counter, and a tiny skull by the three-hour counter. Skull: the sign of death and poisons. That counter was for himself. As dizziness hit him again and his stomach cramped nauseously, he realized the counter was probably accurate. He had only a few hours before the poison killed him.

"Three hours and ten minutes, huh?" he muttered, staring at the counter. It suddenly clicked to nine minutes. "I should make the best of it."

He took his coffee and trudged wearily back to the hearth. He knelt by the block of ice, right by Lucy's head, and stared down at her motionless face.

"If I only have thee hours left, then I'll keep guarding you. I can't do much more than that at this point. Even if I couldn't save you, I'll protect you. I won't let your body fall to that madman. I'll make sure you make it back to Fairy Tail … if only so we can bury you properly." He stroked the ice over her cheek. "I won't be at your funeral though, Lucy. They'll have to bury us at the same time. Maybe they'll bury us side by side. That would be nice."

He laid his head on the ice, right over where her heart was.

"I'll stay with you, Lucy. Even in death, I'll stay by your side. It's all I can do now. That and pray. I pray you'll forgive me, and maybe I'll be able to see you again in Heaven. I guess it's a good thing I'm dying, then. I'll see you soon … in three more hours. You won't be alone for long, Lucy. Knowing you're there already … makes death less scary."

He closed his eyes as dizziness swept over him.

"Just … wait a little longer, Lucy. Wait until I take revenge. Then … then, I can die in peace."


	9. Perseverance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _My first job was at an amusement park (which is seriously the most kick-ass "first job" ever, in my opinion). My friend is married to one of the carnies (carnival employees) and he taught me some of the tricks they use, such as weighted milk bottles, oval basketball hoops, rubber bottomed barrels, and counter-balancing weights in rings for the ring-toss games. These tricks have been used for over a hundred years. That's why it's so hard to win those silly giant stuffed animals. There's always a trick. Sometimes, only the carney himself can manipulate the game, and sometimes it all comes down to skill, luck, and perseverance._

Gray stared down at the frozen body under him. Lucy...dead? He refused to accept that. There had to be a trick to this.

Willie Whitehall was a trickster, a gamer, a former carnival man. Everyone knew that the games carnies ran were rigged to seem easy, while really being deceptively hard to win. For example, toss a ball into a hoop, but from the angle of the player, it's impossible to see that the hoop is oval, not round. However, every game had some trick, a way to cheat the deception. Know the trick, and you could cheat the damn carny out of his prize.

Gray wasn't sure what it could be, though. Could you cheat after a game was over? Could you cheat death? Could you still win after such a total loss?

Still, that was the only explanation for why so many hours had passed and Whitehall was still not here. If it was truly _Game Over_ , Whitehall would have claimed his prize right away. If he was waiting until Lucy was totally dead, the deranged wizard would have taken her coffin of ice while Gray was unconscious for all those hours. Yet here she was, still trapped in the enchanted ice.

Enchanted... Magic...

Did that mean she could still be alive in there?

No, she wasn't breathing, and he sensed her frozen blood. Even if perfectly frozen, the brain dies after too long without oxygen.

Then why wasn't Whitehall here? Was he waiting to see how long until Gray gave up?

"You can forget it!"

Gray glared around the empty room. He guessed that, just like how the maze had cameras to keep an eye on his progress for Whitehall's entertainment, there must be similar monitoring devices in the cabin as well. Whitehall had probably been watching the whole thing, both Gray's race against the clock and Lucy's mental torment, forced to watch Gray suffer alone.

"If you're waiting for me to give up... _never!_ " he shouted. "Fairy Tail doesn't abandon their nakama. I'm not leaving her alone. I'm not leaving her side. I'd rather _die_ than abandon her."

Yet Gray realized, he really would die soon. Three more hours. Probably less, by now. Perhaps Whitehall was hiding because he didn't want to fight. That seemed likely. Why fight when he just had to wait a few hours, and his opponent would drop dead? Then he could simply step over Gray's body and claim his prize.

Gray sat on the floor and draped himself over the block of ice. "I'm not leaving her," he whispered adamantly, gazing down at the face frozen in a sleep-like death. "She's too precious. I would willingly die for her. If I could exchange my life for hers..." He glared around the silent cabin, wondering where the cameras were. "Is that allowed? Can that be an alternative to the rules? I'll take her place. Just...just bring her back to me. _Bring her back to life!_ " he screamed.

Gray held still, hoping for a response. He would even accept the annoying voice that had taunted him all through the maze. Nothing. Total silence. Maybe asking to take her place was beyond the dark wizard's powers. Lucy was dead, after all. Perhaps if he had requested that at the very beginning...

But he hadn't felt so desperate when he first made it to the cabin. He thought they would win. He would free her, grab her, kiss her...

Kiss her? He blushed just thinking about something like that. But yes, if he could free her, after going through so many days of hell to reach her, he would chance a slap to the face and kiss Lucy, as he had so often wanted to do.

Now, he felt useless. He hadn't offered up his life right at the start, so all he could do now was sit beside her and wait. He looked down at Lucy's face. She was beautiful. She really was! Her perfection was frozen in time, marred only by the sadness in her opened eyes. His hand rubbed right over her face. At the very least, he wished he could touch her soft skin. He wished he could hear her voice one last time before the poisonous bloodberries killed him.

"I...don't want her to die," he whispered, caressing the ice. "She suffered so much in the past. I want her to live a long life, with friends and laughter. I want to be with her through those happy years, but if I can't..." He gazed into those empty brown eyes. There was not even a gleam of life in them anymore, vacant and glazed. "If I can't be with her, at least if she can live on, I could die happy. I want Lucy to live. I want her to laugh. There's so much..."

He held back the words, but as tears gathered in his eyes, the words and the salty drops both tumbled out.

"There's so much I wanted to tell you, Lucy. A little secret I've been trying to ignore." He snuffled and wiped his eyes. "I thought if I said it, you'd think I was being foolish, or maybe hit me. We'll, you can't hit me now. I...I was afraid," he confessed. "Afraid that if I told you, it'd ruin the friendship we have. So I never said anything. I just stayed close, I watched you from afar, and I protected you, no matter the cost. You were always there beside me, but I said nothing. I don't want to die with that regret. Even if only your spirit hears me, that's enough. At least I'll have said the words before I die." He gazed down intently, wishing with all his heart that she could hear him. "Lucy, I...I..."

He sighed in anguish. All this time working beside Lucy, he had never been able to express how he really felt. What right did he have to say it now? Still, the icy beauty of her face tugged at his heart. He pulled the frozen body closer to him and whispered into the ice.

"I love you, Lucy."

He closed his eyes. Finally confessing was a huge relief. He hoped that somehow, someway, Lucy heard him. Maybe she was smiling in heaven. He felt as if her spirit was there, glowing beside him.

No, that really was a light. Magical brightness.

Gray pulled back with massive eyes. The icy coffin began to glow, getting brighter and stronger, filling the whole cabin with light.

"What the...?"

* * *

In the front of the maze, Natsu was pacing irritably back and forth.

"What's taking that stripping popsicle so long?" he grumbled. "It's been days! I would've burned the whole maze down by now and be done with it."

Bisca tittered softly as she sat on a picnic blanket with her husband. "Then it's a good thing Gray is the one who went inside and not you."

Erza was going over her plan with Wendy, who had come since they were expecting Gray to be in really bad health. "Are you sure about doing this?"

"Yes," the little girl nodded. "I looked up about bloodberries on the train ride here. I think I know how to cure him. But...um..." She glanced behind her to a certain dark-haired boy with an orange scarf. "Don't tell Romeo why _he_ has to be the one to make it through the maze."

Erza patted her head. "I won't, and I'll make sure no one else does, either."

Wendy blushed bright red. She had heard talks around the guild about the trouble her friends were having up north, and when Levy rushed back to Magnolia, urging Wendy to come with her to help cure Gray's poisoning, she bashfully suggested that the quickest way to reach Gray was to go directly to the end of the maze, which meant needing someone who loved her to come along. When Levy had asked if any boy loved her, Wendy silently pointed out Romeo.

"He doesn't know that I know," she whispered to Erza. "I'm not sure if he even realizes it himself."

"How do you know?" Erza asked curiously.

"I smell it on him. Also, Carla keeps hinting that in the future...well...him and I..." She tucked her chin down shyly.

"That's wonderful," Erza smiled gently. "He's a loyal friend and will grow to be a strong wizard. You two will make a cute couple some day." They both heard him and Natsu telling some perverted joke. "So long as that pink-headed idiot doesn't corrupt him."

Suddenly, the topiary archway glowed golden and a bell rang out joyously. " _We have a winner! The next game starts now. Come one, come all, come on in to Willie Whitehall's Wonderful Winter Maze!_ "

"Who won?" Natsu shouted. "Did Gray win? Is Lucy okay?"

" _The previous contestant did not make it in time._ "

"What?" they all screamed.

Wendy gasped and covered her face. "Then...Lucy..."

" _Buuuuut..._ " the maze's voice sang.

"But?" They all stood tensely as the speaker took sadistic delight in forcing them to wait for the final judgment.

* * *

A distance away, atop a snow-covered hill, Wisteria watched the cabin. She had begun to head back, seeing if Lucy's beau had abandoned her, and if he was still around despite knowing there was no use rescuing her, she would at least show him out of the maze so he could get medical treatment. However, she saw the glow beaming through the cabin windows and smiled to herself.

"He figured it out," she whispered happily. "I'm really glad." She pulled out a tiny communications lacrima from her pocket. "Whitehall, it's Wisteria. It's truly _Game Over_ now. Can I bring him an antidote?"

"Yes, the fun is over. You may tend to the guests. You did well, Wisteria. I really thought you'd break the rules this time. Such an obedient child!"

Her face hardened at his condescending voice. "I'm leaving you, Whitehall."

"I figured as much. You only stayed out of guilt. That's no fun at all, and I only like things that are fun."

"Helping these two is my redemption. Plus, I have a feeling you'll be brought down, and I don't want to be mistaken as being your ally. Fairy Tail is not going to let you get away with this. You're gonna rot in jail, you twisted bastard."

"I'm in discussion with the Fairies at the front gate. How about we make a deal? If they can defeat the maze three times, I'll shut it down."

"You better keep that promise."

"Rules are rules. Even I must follow the rules, including the rules I myself set. Cheaters are disqualified from winning, you know."

She glared at his smoothly beguiling voice. "Goodbye, Whitehall." She threw the lacrima far away. Then she stomped off through the crunching snow, heading back to her personal storehouse to get an antidote.

* * *

Gray could hardly believe his eyes. The frozen coffin melted like ice in a boiling pot, drenching the rug under him. Lucy's body limply fell out of it, and she laid peacefully on the floor.

"Lucy!" he screamed.

She did not move. As he stared hesitantly, he realized her chest was not even moving. He panicked and felt her throat. Her skin was frigid but pliant. The pulse was so faint, he barely felt it, but it was there. She wasn't dead. However, he realized she was not breathing.

"Lucy! Wake up!"

He tried to shake her, but her hand just slid off her chest and flopped to the side. Hardly thinking, Gray knelt over her, pinched her nose, and breathed into her mouth. Her body was ice cold, not too surprising given the circumstances, but he knew this was bad for a normal person. He rubbed her skin and placed his hand over her heart. It was so faint, he could not feel the pulse there. He connected his mouth to those frigid lips again and breathed into her lungs. There was resistance, as if her lungs were iced solid. The air that came back out was far colder than his own breath, frosting his face. He felt her throat. Still a pulse, but no breathing.

"Come on!"

He took another deep breath and forced air in again. This time the chest rose a little. He rubbed the upper chest, hoping to warm up her lungs. What he wouldn't give for Natsu's fiery hands at this moment!

"Breathe, dammit!"

He bent over and forced more air into her mouth.

"Lucy!"

She jolted and gasped. Her lungs rattled as they remembered how to work. Her eyes were wide as she struggled for air. Gray grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her body. She was wet from the melted ice, her hair drenched and her clothes soaked. He listened to her straining to inhale, and he rubbed her skin vigorously.

Finally, she looked over, shivering and pale. "G-Gr-ray? Wh-what...you...h-h-here?"

He suddenly grabbed her and held her tightly against him. She limply laid against his chest, staring ahead in shock and confusion. He was warm...so warm. Gray had never felt warm to her before, but as she rested against his body, she wanted to hold him and soak in his body heat.

"Lucy," he sobbed. She was alive. How, why, what sort of magic was this...none of that mattered. She was _alive!_

"Y-y-you...c-came."

"Of course I came, silly," he laughed, eyes burning with tears. "I'd fight through hell and freeze the heavens for you."

"G-...Gra-..."

"Shh, you're frozen solid. Don't talk yet."

"Burns," she whispered.

He saw her face was in pain. She was so frozen, the normal temperature of the cabin was scalding her body.

"You'll need to defrost slowly," he realized. "Wait a minute."

He leaped up. Dizziness and sickness threatened him again, and he held onto the wall.

"Not now," he growled quietly. He held out and kept walking forward for her sake.

He knew about snow, about frost, and about frozen bodies. Someone with frostbite could get even worse cellular damage if the skin was warmed too fast. He filled the bathtub with cold water, then raced back and lifted Lucy into his arms. He struggled, and he realized he must really be weak from the poison if she felt this heavy.

"Gray..."

"Don't use your throat yet," he warned. He entered the bathroom and sat beside the tub. "Tell me if the water is hot or cold." He dipped her down just far enough to feel the water with her feet.

"Warm," she said.

Gray knew the water was the coldest he could get without resorting to magic. If Lucy thought this was warm, her body really was frozen. He placed her down into the tub, letting the water help to defrost her.

"Getting...c-colder," she said after a couple minutes.

Gray let some water drain out, then filled it up again with warm water. He kept doing this, adding warmer and warmer water, until Lucy was sitting in a tub of tepid water.

"Feeling better?"

She nodded. She was drenched in her clothes, but she had stopped shaking so much.

"Can you stand?"

Lucy tried, but not even in a full sitting position, she shook her head. Her muscles did not want to work at all.

"Don't strain. The frost was all through your muscles and blood. It might take a while."

He lifted her out of the tub and carried her back to the couch to sit by the fire. He wrapped blankets around her and kept rubbing her hands.

"Heard...I...heard...you." Her throat still felt weak, but she looked at him as she whispered. "I heard...all you said."

Gray blushed in shame. "All of it?"

She smiled and nodded. "Everything. I could still hear, and I heard you." Her cold hand caressed his cheek. "Do you know how you broke the spell?"

"Honestly? Not a clue," he admitted.

"Wisteria told me, the way to break the ice's spell was to hear the words I always wanted you to say."

"Free rent?" he asked in confusion.

She tried to hit him, but she was too weak and her hand fell back down onto the couch. "You know that's not it!"

He felt embarrassed as he realized what she meant. "I said...I...I love you."

"Did you mean it?"

He gulped hard, but when he forced himself to look at her, his shame melted just like the ice. "Yes," he declared. "I meant it. I'm in love with you, Lucy. I guess I have been for a while."

She smiled, warming up inside to hear him say that. "That's what I always wanted you to say. I wanted to know you felt the same way as me."

"Same as you?" He gripped her hands eagerly. "You feel the same?"

Lucy's cheeks turned pink, which was such a gorgeous sight after being pale as death. Silently, she nodded. She was not sure when she figured it out, but now that she realized it, she felt like she had these feelings for Gray for such a long time.

An astonished smile crooked the corners of his mouth. His hand took her chin and raised it slowly out of the cute, tucked position. Their eyes met, intimately close. Lucy could already feel his breath tickling her lips, yet he hesitated.

Gently, he whispered, "Can I kiss you?"

"Silly. Your lips already met mine."

"That was medical and out of desperation. This..." and he leaned in closer, "...is out of love."

His lips brushed against hers with a soft, slow, and tender touch. Lucy's eyes closed, and she gave a slight hum as his lips felt burning against her frigid mouth. Slowly, the heat sank in, tingling over her cheeks, flushing down her neck, and shivering down her spine. It was like life was flowing back into her veins.

Gray's hand drifted behind her neck, holding her there, afraid that if he let go, she would be yanked away from him once again. Lucy ran her fingers up into his soft, lanky, black hair, clutching just slightly, enough to get Gray to moan from the possessive hold. He could not recall ever kissing a girl who kissed back even harder, but that was Lucy: stronger than she looked on the outside.

He tested that aggressive side by licking across her bottom lip. He heard her gasp just faintly, yet her mouth opened with eagerness. Her tongue met his, and he tasted something that must have been a pastry she ate before falling under that frozen spell.

Suddenly, Lucy pulled back. Her face drew up, her nose wrinkled, and for a few seconds, Gray panicked that maybe a kiss like that was too much. Or even worse, maybe his breath was bad, or he stank. He realized he had not showered since they began this mission.

His fears were alleviated when Lucy let out a badly suppressed sneeze, small and cute, like a cat. He could hardly help but laugh, and thankfully she did, too.

"What a way to ruin our first kiss," she chuckled, rubbing her nose.

"It's understandable." He massaged the blanket against her, but it was pointless. She was still in wet clothes. "Do you have something else you can wear?"

"Wisteria had some pajamas for me. I guess I should change."

"I'll help..."

"I think I can do that much, Gray," she interrupted sharply.

"But I..." He was about to protest that he could assist her, until he realized what he had almost asked. "Oh! I...I didn't mean..."

"It's fine," Lucy said bashfully, tucking a wet strand of hair behind her ear. "You're just worried."

"Y-yeah," he said awkwardly, unable to look at her now. He was bumbling around like a total idiot.

"I can walk now, I think." Unsteadily, she rose to her feet. Gray leaped up and held her under the elbow until she got her balance. "Just a little stiff, but I'm fine."

"I'll fix you hot tea. We need to finish warming you up."

"Oh? How?" she asked with a gleam in her eye.

Gray felt like chiding her. What sort of heiress gave a man a sensual smirk like that? "Ooh, I know of a secret northern technique to warming up a frigid body."

"Secret, huh?" she asked coyly.

His hand stroked down her cheek. "Very secret. Only one woman will ever see it." He loved how her face went bright pink with that. He chuckled and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Now seriously, get out of these wet clothes before you catch cold."

**End of Chapter 9**


	10. Warmth

Lucy stepped out of the bedroom feeling warm and much better. She was in some long flannel pajamas with house slippers to keep her feet warm. The shivers were gone, and she felt normal once again. She was glad that while under the spell of the ice, she had lost all sensation. Everything shut down within her but her hearing. She could not even really think in that frozen state, but she heard Gray.

She also heard what was wrong with him. Now that she was better, it was time to take care of him.

She stepped out to see Gray sitting on the couch. His head was in his hand, as if he needed to hold it up, and for a brief moment she saw pain in his pale face. However, as soon as he heard her bare feet step across the cabin's wood floor, he turned around to her with a bright smile. She knew he was hiding the pain of the poison from her. He had lost a lot of color in just a few minutes.

As Gray watched Lucy walk into the living room wearing such cute pajamas, his heart felt heavy. He would have to tell Lucy soon. It was unfair to burden her with his emotions when it was too late for him, but her finding out about how he felt was an accident. He had not realized that she could actually hear him through the ice. According to the countdown timer, he had two more hours of life. From how horrible he felt, it was going to be two hours of torture and a slow, painful death. For as long as he could last, he wanted peaceful happiness for the two of them. He would hold back telling her for as long as possible.

She sat beside him, yet before Gray could point out the steaming cup of tea he made for her, Lucy grabbed the back of his head and kissed Gray hard. His eyes widened at the suddenness, but he relaxed, kissed her back, and let her do what she wanted. She was the one who almost died, after all. If she needed confirmation of life, he would hold her tightly and assure her that she was warm, breathing, and beautiful.

_So beautiful!_

"What?"

Crap! He realized he had just said that aloud.

Lucy chuckled at his shocked face. "Thank you so much, Gray."

"For calling you beautiful? I'm sure many men have said so."

She shook her head. "You fought all the way here."

"I was late."

"You still saved me. It's my turn now."

He blinked in confusion.

She folded her arms together stubbornly. "You're very rude, you know that?"

Gray looked completely lost. "Huh?"

"You made me cry when you ate those bloodberries. I cried myself to sleep. Do you really think I'd want you to sacrifice yourself for me? If you do, then you really are an idiot." She placed her hand against his naked stomach. "Is it painful?"

He did not want to admit to the agony he was in that was only getting worse. He had collapsed three times in the kitchen just trying to make her tea. "I'm fine."

"Liar. I glanced at the counter." Her brow tensed. "Can we make it to a town in two hours?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't even know how to make it out of this maze. Do you know?"

"No," she admitted. "Wisteria never told me that part. I could search for her. You stay here."

She began to stand, but Gray snatched her hand. "Don't go out there!" He yanked her back down onto the couch and threw his arms around her. "Don't leave my side," he begged. "I almost lost you. I don't want you out of my sight."

"But Gray..."

"I'm not going to let him take you away from me!" he shouted. He struggled to breathe, and Lucy heard him gulping hard, fighting to keep his stomach down. "Please, Lucy. Don't leave me. Even if that lady can get us to the entrance, it took us four hours to travel from town to this maze. We'd never make it back in time. It's...too late for me."

Part of him was scared. He did not want to leave Lucy, not after finding out she loved him. Mostly, he was angry. He would not get to see Whitehall brought to justice. Gray still wanted vengeance for the suffering Whitehall put Lucy through. Instead, he would leave her, and there was no guarantee that Lucy could make it out of this maze alone.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, clinging to her neck. "It was really reckless of me to say I love you when I won't be around long enough to do more."

"Idiot. If you hadn't said it, I'd still be frozen." She took his face into her hands. "You fought to save me. Do you really think I'm going to sit around and do nothing while you die of poison?" She lightly slapped both cheeks with her hands and held them cupped in her palms. "We're Fairy Tail wizards. We don't give up that easily. There has to be a cure, and I'm not about to sit cooped up in this cabin like a princess in a tower while my ice prince sacrifices himself."

" _Your_...ice prince?" Gray whispered, shocked and embarrassed to hear her call him that.

With her hands still cupping his face, Lucy leaned in and rubbed her nose against Gray's. "My ice prince," she repeated gently. Then she kissed him. His wide, stunned eyes slowly lowered, relaxing into her kiss. He could definitely get used to the feel of her lips.

Suddenly, Gray yanked back, coughing hard. He tried to cover his mouth, but blood sprayed out. Lucy cried out to him, but Gray went limp, almost collapsing to the floor. Lucy grabbed his shoulders and held him against the couch as Gray tensed up in agony.

"Dammit!" he cringed. He really had not wanted to show weakness in front of her, but the pain was unendurable. He suddenly coughed again, and although he used both hands to cover his mouth, he tasted blood and felt it drip between his fingers and down his chin.

"Gray!" Lucy shrieked. What could she do? She couldn't just leave him here, but they had to find Wisteria. She was the only one who knew how to escape this maze. However, Gray was right. Even if Wisteria took them to the front gate instantaneously, it was four hours to the nearest town, and there was no guarantee that a healer lived there.

Gray looked over at her. The terror in Lucy's brown eyes anguished him. He didn't want to see her afraid like this, certainly not over him. He was about to tell her to go, try to find Wisteria, just to get her away so she didn't have to watch him slowly die.

His stomach suddenly cramped again. Gray hugged his gut and collapsed sideways, screaming in pain. It felt like a hole had just eaten through his stomach, and all the gastric acid was leaking into his intestinal cavity. He punched the floor, trying to take his mind off the agony. He didn't want Lucy to watch him die, but he didn't want her to leave his side. Through tears of suffering, he looked up at her. What should he do? She was crying, and he hated that. He began to open his mouth to apologize, but blood gurgled up. He barely had time to turn his head down before clots of crimson blood spewed out with force.

"Gray!"

Just then, the door flew open, wind and snow swirled into the cabin, and there was a massive, black, floating hand. Wendy was in those shadowy fingers, and she was suddenly dumped inside the cabin. A second later, Wisteria appeared magically, apparently in the midst of putting on her coat.

"Dammit, Whitehall!" she yelled.

Gray sat up despite his condition. "Whitehall?" he growled with blood dripping down from his mouth.

Lucy reached to her Spirit keys, ready to fight.

Then the mad wizard himself appeared. "Another contestant has arrived. Let the game begin!"

"Bastard!" Gray snarled. "Ice-Make..." Before he could summon the magic, Gray fell over, coughing up more blood.

"Gray!" Wendy cried out, and she rushed forward.

Lucy fretted over Gray, and when she looked back to the open door, Whitehall was gone. "He escaped."

"Dammit!" Gray growled, but his mouth was suddenly filled with more blood.

Wendy got right to work. "Rest, Gray. I came so I could heal you."

Wisteria walked forward. "Luckily, I had already grabbed the antidote before he summoned me. Here." The purple-haired lady handed a vial to Wendy. "It won't repair the damage already done to his body, but it will stop the poison from spreading."

Wendy uncapped the vial and smelled it first. Her dragon slayer sense of smell told her the liquid inside was safe, something herbal. "Drink it, Gray," she urged, and tipped it to his blood-covered lips.

Gray managed to gulp the bitter medicine down. It didn't make him feel any better, but if Wisteria was telling the truth—and he didn't easily trust someone who worked for a dark wizard—then at least he would not die.

Wendy looked up to the two older girls. "Can you help me carry him to the bed? He needs to lie down."

Wisteria and Lucy hoisted Gray between the two of them and half-dragged him to the bedroom. He had no strength to even walk. Carefully, they laid him on the bed. Wendy settled beside him, stretched her hands out over his stomach, and a green healing glow shined from her fingers.

"How did you get here?" Lucy asked.

"Erza called me here when they found out Gray had eaten poisonous berries."

"But how did you get into the maze? Only lovers are allowed inside."

"Actually," Wisteria corrected, "only two people mutually in love, whether if it's known between the two of them of not."

Wendy blushed fiercely. "They told me about that, too. So...we brought..." She muttered something so softly, no one heard.

"What?" Lucy asked, leaning closer. "Who did you bring? Don't tell me it's Doranbolt."

"No!" Wendy cried out. "He's like a big brother, or like an uncle. He's _way_ too old! It's...um...R-...Ro-...Romeo." She tucked her head down, and her face was bright crimson.

Lucy struggled hard not to giggle at the twelve-year-old's adorably infatuated face. "Romeo, huh?"

" _Don't tell him_ ," she cried out. "We...we didn't tell him _why_ it had to be him. We made sure he had lots of food and water, warm clothes, and he was warned against eating the berries. Since Happy and Carla managed to map out the maze from the air, Romeo already knows the best route to take. It means I have three to seven days of sitting around waiting for him, but I can heal Gray during that time."

"That's a relief," Lucy sighed. She took Gray's hand and squeezed it. "See! I told you. Fairy Tail doesn't give up on their nakama."

He smiled weakly and squeezed her fingers.

Wisteria looked troubled. "Another victim for Whitehall, though. This time, two children. He's a sick man. You and your sweetheart shouldn't have to suffer just to heal your friends."

"Romeo is strong," Wendy said with prideful confidence. "He'll make it through the maze. And we're not sweethearts." She blushed again at that.

Wisteria tittered in amusement. "You sound just like Lucy did at the beginning. I'm glad it worked out for you two." She stroked Lucy's hair with sisterly pride. Lucy grinned up at the poor servant girl.

"We got Whitehall to make a deal," Wendy explained. "If three couples from Fairy Tail can defeat the maze, he'll tear it down and turn himself in peacefully. He agreed, since if three couples pass, then the maze will no longer be fun."

Wisteria frowned. "He mentioned that deal. He'll keep his promise, at least."

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"He plays by the rules, although he makes the rules. Once a rule is set, he won't break it. It's all part of the _game_ for him."

"So first up is me," Wendy told them. "Then Bisca and Alzack are already waiting their turn, and Levy sent a message to have Gajeel come."

Lucy laughed that even her best friend would have her turn in the maze. "It's going to be a Fairy Tail couples getaway." Then she grinned to Wisteria. "You'll have lots of company."

"Yes," she smiled, looked aside to hide how happy it made her, suddenly having many people around, and knowing this maze would be defeated and destroyed.

Lucy patted Wisteria's shoulder. "I know you've suffered under Whitehall far more than I did. It'll be over soon. What will you do once the maze is torn down?"

Wisteria glanced to the blonde and her raven-haired beau. "Watching you and Gray has inspired me to go out and search for my girlfriend again. Maybe we can reconcile."

"I wish you luck."

"I'll stay here until everyone completes the maze. I want to see it burned down."

Wendy giggled. "Natsu is waiting to do just that."

Even Gray laughed. "That idiot flame-brain can have fun setting those damn bloodberry bushes on fire. Torch the whole thing, for all I care."

"I'll make cookies," Wisteria offered. "Would you like anything to drink, little one?"

"My name is Wendy," she grinned. "And some milk is fine."

"Cookies and milk, then. We'll have a little party to celebrate Gray and Lucy finally realizing their love for one another."

Lucy flushed brightly, and Gray's cheeks went a little pink with embarrassment. Wendy giggled at their reactions while secretly hoping that maybe the maze would spark something between her and Romeo.

**End of Chapter 10**


	11. Hostages

It took a few days, but finally Fairy Tail broke the charm over the giant maze. When Alzack made it through to reach Bisca in the cabin at the end of the labyrinth, the barrier lowered, and suddenly everyone could come through. By then, most of the monsters were defeated, and Erza led the way with no second guesses on where to turn along the maze's paths.

They all met up at the cabin on the snowy hill, and they saw for themselves how Lucy and Gray cuddled together by the fire, while Wendy and Romeo seemed a little closer and sat with their thighs touching. Alzack and Bisca were discussing about possibly having another child. It seemed the maze worked at bringing together couples in love.

Once they were all gathered, Wisteria led them outside, along a snowy path, to a spot with runes. She had no magic of her own, but she relied on Whitehall's runes to teleport to his castle. She brought all of them along with a cold glare in her eyes. Finally, after years of watching others suffer, she would see justice come to this madman.

They marched through stone hallways lined with tapestries that looked very old and items of heraldry from before the Fiore royal family took the throne. Finally, they came to a vast library with a fireplace crackling. In front of the fire was a large chair with a high back. As they glanced around, they saw a morbid scene. Within the library were numerous bodies, mostly women, frozen within slabs of ice, their faces trapped with expressions of pain, horror, and sadness. These coffins of ice were hung up like trophies, placed in areas so light refracted through the ice and highlighted those ghastly faces. Lucy shivered as she realized just how close she came to being one of these decorations.

"Salutations and my warmest congratulations, wizards of Fairy Tail," Whitehall said, staring at the hearth and nonchalantly smoking a pipe. "This maze was my masterpiece, and you've defeated it. Really, I don't know what else I can do with my life after losing interest in this game."

"You lose, Whitehall," Erza stated sharply. "You will face trial with the Magic Council. If you come peacefully, we won't harm you."

"Lose? Me?" He spun the chair around and gazed at the group while puffing on a long-stemmed pipe. "Do you really think you've won? You've defeated a child's game, a puzzle, a simple maze."

Gray scoffed. That labyrinth was anything but simple.

"Facing me?" He snickered softly. "Well, that's a completely different game."

Erza readied herself, prepared for him to fight.

"Oh, I won't attack you," he told the wizards. "You see…" He chuckled with a gleeful grin. "…you've already lost."

Suddenly, they saw runes lighting up all around the room.

"Did you naively assume that I would come with you willingly? Do you really think," he whispered with a crazed grin, "that you can defeat me? Here? In my own castle? You walked in here not realizing you were stepping into a whole other challenge. I have runes set up everywhere. A snap of my fingers, and you'll all die a slow and delightfully excruciating death."

Erza held still. "Levy?"

She looked around in a panic. "I … I would need time. The dialect is strange, and the syntax…"

"Oh course, my dear," Whitehall interrupted. "It's encoded. I knew you had a runes translator in your group. Like I said, I prepared. Always think three steps ahead of your opponent. I knew Wisteria would betray me; she's been waiting for the opportunity, and you were it. I realized that your group had already solved my maze. It got boring after that. So I had plenty of time to prepare," he smirked. "I'm not going to those ninnies in the Magic Council, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

Natsu's fists caught ablaze. "You wanna bet!" He began to stomp forward.

"Oh, I _excel_ in betting games," Whitehall smirked. At a light swirl of his finger, Natsu stopped and began to cough while grabbing his throat. He gagged and gasped, suffocating slowly. Whitehall had a deranged gleam in his eyes. "I _win_ them!"

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out. She began to rush to his side.

"Another step and I'll put you back in ice, my dear," Whitehall warned sharply.

The threat drove a spike of fear into Lucy's veins. The terror of that slow freezing still made her ache at times.

"Let him go!" Erza demanded.

"I won't kill him," Whitehall promised. "It's not fun if you kill off the pawns before the game has even started."

"I … I'm fine," Natsu choked. "Just … dizzy."

"Do you know the trouble with boredom?" Whitehall asked them as Natsu fell to his knees, gasping at the minimal amounts of air left in his runes cage. "You start to think about all sorts of things," the madman went on, and he began to list them on his fingers. "Does God exist? Can you really experience anything objectively? How does gravity work? Why do cats purr? Are eyebrows considered facial hair? How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?" He smirked slyly. "What are all the ways a person can die?"

"Release Natsu," Erza sneered.

"Oh, my dear lady," Whitehall chuckled. "I don't think you're in the position to be making demands. Should I remove the air from your area, too?"

Suddenly, it became harder for Erza to breathe. Natsu had fallen already and looked ready to pass out from lack of air.

"I want some more fun," Whitehall stated flippantly. He set his pipe down and tapped his fingers together. "Let's make a deal, shall we?"

The redhead eyed him coldly, her face as hard as steel. Quietly, out of breath, she acquiesced, "Go ahead."

"Erza," Bisca warned worriedly.

Whitehall smiled craftily. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Natsu gasped and Erza could breathe normally again.

Whitehall folded his fingers together. "You let me go, and I'll unfreeze all of these people. Not only them. I'll free everyone who has ever been trapped in one of my games."

Gray jolted at such an offer. "Everyone?"

"Yes, my boy," he smiled, and said enticingly, "Everyone!"

Gray's brow tightened. "That girl I heard about when I was a kid, the one who you locked in that haunted mansion with her dead family…"

Whitehall laughed and grinned to himself. "Yes, that was a good one."

The Ice-Make wizard began to lurch forward. "You sick bast-…"

"Gray!" Erza snapped, yanking him back.

"I'll free her," promised Whitehall. "I'm afraid I can't revive the family, though. Resurrection is quite beyond my means. I'll free her and others in her condition, as well as all of these people." He waved around to the room filled with frozen bodies.

Erza carefully considered the offer. "How many people are we talking about?"

"How many?" Whitehall thought about it, hummed, and tapped his finger to his lip. "I never really keep track of these things."

Angrily, Erza shouted, "How many?"

Whitehall gave a laconic shrug. "Two hundred or so?"

Alzack's mouth dropped. "Two hundred?" he whispered in horror.

"Or maybe three hundred," Whitehall offered lightly with a playful shrug. "I'm actually not sure."

Gray tightened his hold around Lucy. This horrible man could freeze hundred of people and not even care enough to know how many he caused to suffer. Lucy had almost ended up just another victim.

Gray sneered at Whitehall's frivolous smile. "He's holding them hostage."

"I know that, Gray," Erza said sharply, but she did not act yet. This was no different than chess, except they were a group of pawns facing a king. He could not move _far_ , but he could move unpredictably, and he was deadly.

Natsu hated the man in front of him. Anyone who hurt his friends deserved to be punched. Just as his fists began to flame again, an armored hand reached out and clamped down hard on his shoulder. He glanced back in surprise.

"Erza?"

She merely shook her head. She had sparred with Freed before. The trouble with a runes wizard was that, if you got caught in their runes, there were usually rules before you could get out, just like how the labyrinth had rules, a timer, and punishments for breaking the rules. They were already trapped in yet another one of his games. Before they could act, she needed to figure out the rules.

"These people are innocent. It's our duty to save them if we can. If I'm guessing right," and she glared at the old man, "you could end their lives at any moment."

"End their lives?" Whitehall blinked and thought about it, as if considering this for the first time. "Umm … yes. Yes, I could." He looked giddy at realizing this.

So, this was his game! Many lives were on the line, not just their own, but hundreds of others.

Gray realized she was hesitating. He could hardly believe she was even considering this lunatic. "Erza!" the ice wizard growled.

"We're in a hostage situation, Gray," she said, forcefully calm. "Isn't that so?" she asked Whitehall.

The old man made a sour face. "Oh, I don't like calling this a _hostage situation_. No, no, no. Uhhh…" He tapped his finger to his chin and looked to the ceiling as he judged his words. "We're _bartering_ on the rules of this new game of mine, something I'm inventing as I go," he decided with a playful grin. "It's quite fun to do that, you know."

Gray's fists clenched. "You sick bastard!"

Erza yanked his shoulder back. "Easy, Gray!"

Whitehall smirked, thoroughly amused by their reactions. This redhead was a tough opponent who understood how strategy games worked. She was a queen surrounded by pawns. Well, maybe this shirtless boy was a knight, leaping around in unpredictable ways. Still, that just made the game more fun.

"So, have we a deal?" he asked, staring at Erza. "You let me go, and I'll free two or three hundred people, all throughout Fiore. Good deal, right?" he grinned. "One poor, old wizard; two to three hundred innocent civilians."

Gray growled deep in his throat. He just about had enough of this man, but Erza let out a deep sigh and held her chin, thinking things over. "Erza!" he whispered harshly.

"Shut up, Gray!" snapped the Titania. Both him and Natsu's emotional reactions were distractions. She needed to think carefully about her next move. "This isn't something for me to decide. You'll have to go before a court of the Magic Council, and they will decide your fate. They may decide to let you go."

Whitehall pouted at the stipulation. "No, no, that wouldn't do. I don't want to go in front of a court. No, I don't," he muttered.

Erza felt the heavy weight of this decision. It really was beyond her authority, but they had little choice. "Gray, can you unfreeze these women?" she asked softly.

He was shocked, but sadly he shook his head. "No. I tried with Lucy, and I couldn't. This magic … it's almost like it isn't ice magic."

"Oh, it's only _partly_ ice magic," Whitehall explained with a titter, watching their faces with amusement as they tried to solve the mystery. "There's much more to it than that."

Erza noticed that Wendy had stepped away from their group and up to one of the statues. It was a macabre scene, pain and horror captured and frozen. The little girl placed her hand on the slab of ice and peered into the frozen face.

"Wendy?" Erza asked cautiously.

"It's … strange," she whispered, lightly running her hand up the frozen barrier. "I sense life in there but … not time!"

"Not time?" Romeo asked, coming up beside her.

"Like he … froze time," she whispered.

"Awww, good girl," Whitehall said giddily, clapping his hands. "You're a _smart_ one, yes you are!"

Natsu had seen Gray freeze many things, but this was outrageous. "You can freeze _time_?" he bellowed.

"Oh yes, my boy, that's my speciality," Whitehall said, looking proud of himself. He looked over at the Ice-Make wizard. "You can only freeze water. I can freeze anything." His eyes went deadly seriously as he glared at the Fairy Tail group. "A-…-NY-…-THING!" he emphasized, and a sadistic smile curled onto his lips, changing this crazed carny into a diabolical demon. "I could freeze all of you, right here, right now." He grinned around at the group. "Freeze your blood, freeze your soul, freeze the very timeline in which you exist. I don't even have to lift a finger." He suddenly laughed, looking crazy again, and said in a singsong tone, "I … can freeze time … _itself_."

Erza scowled. This really did make things more challenging.

"We could sit here for years," he declared, waving his hand around at the library. "Oh yes, decades even," he said lightly, "and the outside world won't know a thing. Or," he offered excitedly, "I could freeze out there and let us sit in here. Outside, oh, maybe about half a second would pass," he calculated flippantly, "while in here, we'll all grow old, staring at one another, maybe fighting each other. Wouldn't that be fun?" he ended with a lilt to his laugh.

Erza kept a level gaze at him. "You're saying we can't even win against you."

He looked surprised again. "Oh, I'm not saying that at all. You actually have pretty good odds at killing me eventually. Of course, you could lose a decade or so of your life before I get bored of this game."

Erza and all the others who had been on Tenrou knew precisely what it was like to lose time. Romeo unconsciously grabbed Wendy's arm, not wanting to be separated from her again. Bisca and Alzack looked to each other in horror. If they lost a decade of their time, Asuka would have grown up alone!

Erza still tried to figure out some way to end this stalemate without a disaster happening to their group. "Gray, can you unfreeze something like time?"

He gawked at her. "I don't know the first thing about this sort of magic. It's not something Ur ever taught me. Freezing time—I've never even heard of this before! Ultear could manipulate non-sentient things, like buildings or plants, but…" He gritted with sad memories of Ultear. "…this sounds like you directly manipulate sentient things, too."

"More like space, as opposed to objects," Whitehall corrected. "I freeze the space around a person, including the person within that space. I just add the ice because it makes my trophies _so_ much prettier, don't you think?"

"So that's why I couldn't unfreeze the ice," Gray muttered. "It was frozen in time."

Whitehall pointed at him and winked. "Bingo!"

Lucy spoke up, "Is this like Mavis' magic?"

"Mavis?" Whitehall asked sharply. His brow creased. They all watched in anticipation. Then Whitehall mumbled to himself. "Do I know a Mavis? Hmm, Mavis…" He looked up with childish curiosity. "Who's Mavis?"

They all sighed at his flippant attitude.

Erza answered Lucy, "I think Mavis's magic is much different. This man isn't anywhere near as strong as the first master."

Whitehall gasped. "Oh, _that_ Mavis! I've heard of her. She was quite powerful, from what I've read." He tapped his finger to his chin, thinking something over, then shrugged wildly. "Nope! My magic's not like hers, sorry."

Erza had one last idea. "Can you teach this magic to Gray?"

Whitehall's expression was no longer mocking. He honestly looked stunned by her question. "Well, I _could_ ," he answered with a casual shrug. "Now, do I _want_ to? No!"

Erza's sword swung out and went to his neck.

Whitehall gulped hard and backed up in his chair. "Opp! Watch the sword, missy, watch the sword," he laughed nervously, not taking her all that serious.

"Let me rephrase that," Erza said sharply, and her brown eyes narrowed into the glare that made the Titania so feared. "You're _going_ to teach this magic to Gray!"

Her expression did nothing to Whitehall, and he blithely asked, "And why would I do that?"

Erza's eyes went harsher. "Because otherwise, I will slit your throat."

Her threat made him laugh. "Or … I could freeze time and…"

"And I will slit your throat when time unfreezes."

Whitehall felt the chill of the steel against his throat. "Point taken," he conceded. One finger rose up, and he cautiously pressed the blade aside. "But rather than teach him how to free these people, I could always just—oh, I don't know— _kill_ everyone!" he grinned. "So tell me, what's in it for me to even bother? Besides not having your sword through my neck, of course." His eyes hardened. "What incentive do I have? "

Erza knew she had to consider her next words carefully. This was the true checkmate move. Say the wrong thing, and they could all die. Say the right thing, and they could possibly get all they wanted: the frozen people freed, their lives out of danger, and this madman in the custody of the Magic Council. If she had time to work out this situation, maybe she could come up with the perfect solution. Instead, a solid minute ticked by.

"Erza…" Lucy asked worriedly, seeing the strain in her friend's brow.

Whitehall drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair. "You're thinking about it a little too long, my lady. You're reasoning that if you hold your sword to my throat long enough, I'll get scared and give in. Well, it's not going to work, not when I'm the one that's really pulling the strings in this marionette show," he smiled placidly. "I'm going to need a lot more convincing than just death threats, so you've got to up the ante to this bet. What incentive is there for me to teach my magic to this boy, when all I have to do is snap my fingers—" He held his hand up, as if ready to snap, yet playfully stopped and grinned at their worried faces. "—and you'll all be frozen here. By the time the magic wears off, I'll probably be dead. So," he whispered, leaning in eagerly, "why should I bother? Why shouldn't I just kill you all now? I could freeze your hearts, or maybe your lungs until you can't even breathe. It's quite the favorite of mine, to see my victims gasp for air in a futile attempt to live."

He looked positively insane with fatally sadistic glee. It convinced Erza more and more, they could not simply let this man go, but he had three hundred hostages, as well as all of their lives, in the palm of his hand. This was not checkmate. This was a pawn already pinned in a corner by a king, and the pawn was trying to connive the mastermind not to swipe clear the whole chessboard in victory.

Chess! Yes! Her mind had been thinking this was like a game of chess from the moment they entered this room. The answer was right there. Finally, the pieces came together for Erza, and she smiled as the plan spread out before her mind like a rolled up map scroll showing a battlefield to a general.

"How about we make this a game?" she asked cunningly.

Whitehall's eyes widened. "A game?" he cried out. "Oh! Well, now you're speaking my language!" He clapped and wiggled around in his chair like an excited child. "What type of game?"

"A betting game. What would you like to bet?"

"Who, me?" He put his finger to his lip and hummed as he considered this. "I haven't taken a bet in ages. How about … your life?" he grinned directly to Erza. "Just yours. Or maybe the life of that little girl over there." He smiled to Wendy. "Hello, cutie," he called out, wiggling his fingers at her. Romeo protectively took a step in front of her. "Oh, how sweet!" he squealed at the protective stance the boy had taken. "I've always been quite fond of children. I used to love having carnivals for little kids just like you. Yes, come to think of it, I have about twenty children in my collection. They're the most adorable things!"

Despite herself, Erza yanked out her sword again and swung it up against Whitehall's neck. "You sick bastard!"

"Hey, hey," he warned, using his fingers to edge the blade away again. "Sword to the throat: not a smart idea. You wouldn't want me to take her hostage, now, would you?" Runes suddenly lit up around Wendy, encircling her with white light.

Erza snarled, but she pulled back the sword and angrily sheathed it.

"Didn't think so," smirked Whitehall. "So, let's make this _your_ life," he said directly to Erza. "Your life for mine, even trade. So, what type of game is this?"

Erza replied, "You give Gray one week."

Whitehall looked confused. "A week?"

The redhead nodded. "Yes, one week! During that time, you have free reign of this castle, but you have to teach him everything you know in that amount of time."

Whitehall peered at her flatly. "You do realize that you're talking about fifty years worth of accumulated magic, right?"

"Yes," she nodded firmly.

"And I'm supposed to teach him in _only_ one week?"

"That's the deal."

He eyed her as if wondering if this was some sort of bluff, but her eyes gave away nothing. "Right then," he muttered, logging this in his mind as a main rule to the game. "And, uh … what else?"

"After one week, Gray will put everything you taught him into practice and attempt to liberate the hostages. If he succeeds, you will stand trial, and the Magic Council will decide your fate."

"And if he doesn't win this game?"

"Then I will become one of your trophies."

The group shouted in protest.

"Erza!"

"No way!"

Gray grabbed her arm. "Are you out of your mind?" he screamed.

"It's okay, Gray" she said calmly. "I trust you."

"I don't trust _him_ ," Gray screamed. "He could teach me how to pull goldfish out my ass for all we know."

"He's a game expert," she reasoned. "A _bored_ game expert. He wants a diversion. We'll give him one."

"But it isn't even a type of magic I know!" he shouted in protest. "Freezing time!" he bellowed.

It sounded preposterous. He looked around at all the frozen statues, women who were just like how Lucy had been, and he had been unable to save her. Only a silly _rule of the game_ like "say the magic word" broke her out of that enchantment. Lucy's life had been in his hands, and he failed to make it through the maze in time. Now Erza's life was at stake.

"Look at me." Erza grabbed his shoulders and yanked him over to face her directly. "You can freeze anything."

Lacking confidence, Gray shook his head, anguished at the weight of her trust. "Erza…"

"Gray, we've known each other since we were children. I trust you with my life."

He looked up into her eyes. Even after failing the maze, Erza believed in him. He realized that, if he wanted to succeed, he needed to have faith in himself.

Erza saw determination returning to his face. "Lucy," she called over. "Can I take him away for one week?"

Lucy was shocked by all this. To lose Gray, just as they discovered their feelings for each other … but it had to be this way. Lucy did not want anyone else to suffer what she went through, and she wanted all these other victims to have their lives back. "Yeah, i-it's okay," she said softly, "but Gray…?"

"It's okay, Lucy," he said with a smile to her. "I promise you, I won't lose again."

Whitehall clapped his hands loudly. "Oh, I like your spirit, boy! Really, I do!"

Gray glared at the madman, really wanting to just _punch him_.

Erza asked, "Do you have any kind of guarantee that this will be a fair game?"

Whitehall almost looked offended. "Oh, I always play by the rules. You can ask Wisteria about that."

The girl with purple hair nodded solemnly. "He does … but," she warned with a glare at the old man, "he makes up the rules along the way."

"Well, that is a different story…" Whitehall chuckled with an affable shrug. "I do make them up, but I follow them. No use having rules if they're not obeyed."

Despite that warning, Erza held her chin. "We'll have to draw up very specific rules. _Set_ rules," she emphasized, "that will be inflexible."

Whitehall pouted at her seriousness. "Oh, you're no fun at all," he soughed petulantly.

"Gray?" Erza asked.

He knew there was no other way. Erza was one of the best strategists he knew. Firmly, he declared, "I accept this challenge."

Erza looked satisfied. She turned to the group. "The rest of you, return to Magnolia. Tell Master and the Magic Council about what is going on here. I think it would be best that they know about this situation."

Wendy looked fretful. "Erza, are you staying here?"

"Yes, so I can make sure he doesn't cheat," she said with a glare at the old man.

"Now, now!" Whitehall pouted. "Cheaters never win, and I'm not a cheater. I may have been called many things over the years, but never once in my life have I been called a cheater."

She ignored him. "Gray and I will stay here. Lucy, you should go back with the others. You're still weak."

"What?" she said, grabbing onto Gray's arm. "But … is Gray going to be okay?"

He covered her hands with his own. "I'll be fine, Lucy," he assured her.

Lucy wanted to protest, but she realized that Erza was right. Even after a few days to rest, she could barely stand on her own. Besides, she would only be a distraction to Gray, and now so much rode on whether or not he could learn a new type of magic.

Gray squeezed her hand to let her know he would be okay, and then he decidedly let her go. He had a duty to do, and this would redeem him for failing in the maze. He strode up to Whitehall and stared at the small man caustically.

"You better teach me everything, and I don't want to see any dirty tricks."

"Oh, I will, boy," Whitehall promised with a smile, liking this sort of determination to win a game. "There's no fun in playing games if it's impossible for either parties to win. Teaching you fifty years worth of magic? Child's play! I can simply freeze time and teach it to you in a week. Of course, that's maybe even _too much_ time." He grinned at Erza. "If I teach him everything in just an hour, will you let me go?"

Erza glared coldly, sensing something devious. "No!"

"Oh bugger," he grumbled. "Well, you can't blame a guy for trying." Whitehall shrugged widely. "All right, fine. One week, but I get to freeze time." Erza opened her mouth to refuse, but Whitehall insisted loudly over her, "It's the only way I can teach him everything to make this game fair. We want to play fair, right? Then I need to condense fifty years into seven days."

"I won't age, will I?" asked Gray.

"Well, you don't _have_ to," Whitehall grinned madly. "You could, if you want. A little silver in your hair would really suit you. It'd make you look like a distinguished gentleman."

"No way. I don't want to lose any more years."

"Technically speaking, it would feel like five decades, but your body won't age any differently than the rest of your friends. Only your mind. I can guarantee that, if you want."

Five decades! It would only be mental, not physical, but that still meant his mind would perceive this as fifty years apart from everyone else he knew. "Well, at least it'll only feel like a week to you, Lucy."

She was beginning to realize what this challenge meant. "Gray, no…"

"I accept!" he declared. Something lit around him, and a bell dinged, as if he was just another contestant pull up to participate in a carnival game.

"No!" Lucy said, looking around at the lights and bells. "Don't do it, Gray. Please!"

"Lucy, it's gonna be just a week."

"But it'll be half a century for you!"

It really was a harrowing thought, but to free these people, to save so many innocent people from this madman's curse, he had to be willing to sacrifice something of himself. "I'd wait that long to get back to you," he said with a smile. "So just wait a week for me."

A tear dripped down her cheek. "O-okay." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Don't be late like last time."

He laughed at her demand and stroked her face. "I promise, I won't."

Lucy could not hold back. "Gray!"

Not caring that everyone was watching, she suddenly leaped into his arms, and Gray yanked her against him. His fingers felt through her hair, his lips tasted her, and he inhaled her sweet scent, trying to remember everything about her. The others politely looked away, and Wendy blushed brightly at the sounds of their moist kisses. Only Whitehall watched with a wistful expression.

"One thing I never built for a carnival was a Tunnel Of Love. Deary, maybe I should have. This is really sweet."

As Gray pulled back and gazed into Lucy's eyes, he realized that this ache in his heart was his punishment for losing to the maze and making her suffer through icy agony. It was only fair that he get punished for losing a game. Maybe it would be only a week, but he knew the mental perception of half a century would torment him. At least Lucy would not suffer. She would have a week to get back home and recuperate. This was a burden just for himself.

Fifty years without her voice, without her laugh, without her soft touch!

He stroked her face, and rested their noses together, gazing at her intensely. "Be safe, and get well," he whispered, slightly out of breath from the deep kisses. "When I get back to Magnolia, I'm taking you out on a date."

Lucy giggled and blushed. Here they were, kissing so passionately, and they had no even been on a first date yet.

Gray smiled to hear her laugh. He wanted to remember that sound. "I want you to pick a nice place. Can you do that for me?"

She wiped away the last tear from her eye and nodded. "I will."

"Oh, and … uh … just don't pick a carnival, okay?"

She chuckled, realizing they were both sick of places involving games. "Got it."

He squeezed her hands, then learned over and gave her a final kiss. It would feel like fifty years to him before he got another. Then Gray looked over to the Fire Dragon Slayer. "Flame-brain, keep an eye on her, will you? Make sure she heals and doesn't over-exert herself."

Natsu looked like he also understood what Gray was about to shoulder, "Yeah," he agreed, nodding solemnly, knowing he would have watched over Lucy like a sister anyway.

"All right, everyone," Erza decided. "Go with Wisteria. She'll lead you out."

As they shuffled out of the room, Whitehall wiggled his fingers and called out to them, "Toodle-loo!"

Gray rolled his eyes and confessed to Erza, "I really hate this guy. I hope I won't kill him in the process."

"You and me both," she agreed. She only had to put up with Whitehall for a week. Poor Gray would have to deal with this psychopath for fifty years!

**End of Chapter 11**


	12. Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Thanks to Graytail69 for being my transcriber for the last two chapters so I could finally get them finished while I heal from an injured wrist._

Lucy sat by the window contemplating on how long she felt that week lasted. She felt like complaining, However, every time she was on the verge of griping to her friends, she would stop and think about Gray, about the bet he made that day in the maze and how long it would feel for him. Whitehall said that he would alter time so that Gray would not age physically while the old man taught Gray everything he needed to know. For Gray, this week would _feel_ like fifty years.

She could not even imagine that. Fifty years!

Time changed people. Even if Gray would not age physically, what if he simply was not interested anymore, after spending half a century away from her? It worried her. Even if his feelings were the same, what would he be like? Would he be the same man she had slowly fallen for, the same man who fought his way through perils to rescue her, who ate poisonous berries despite knowing the consequences, all for the gamble of making it to her before time ran out? How would those fifty years of training change him?

The guild had finally received a message from Erza that morning. Gray not only learned the magic, he managed to master it. Whitehall went away peacefully and was now awaiting trial. The Magic Council were still unsure whether to take up Whitehall's offer of freeing the people he had trapped—not just the maze's time-frozen victims, but all sorts of diabolical "punishments" he had bestowed upon his victims—or to lock the madman away for good. Whitehall had said that as many as three hundred others were also in various forms of cursed captivity. This brilliantly insane man had used many kinds of magic to seal his poor victims over the years, some of them destined to be locked away forever, long after his death. He had taught Gray only one type of magic, the time-freezing he used in his winter maze.

That was out of her hands for now. Someday, the Magic Council would come up with the verdict. In the meantime, Whitehall was in custody. Lucy was glad Gray managed to free the women in Whitehall's castle, at least. She knew what it felt like, being frozen in time. Now those people were free to continue life, although most of them lost their loved one to the perils of the maze. There were many widows and grieving young women. It was a bitter victory.

Wisteria was not charged of anything because she was just another one of Whitehall's victims. Although she did work for him, her only role in these _games_ had been assuring that the captives were treated nicely. When Gray unfroze the people in Whitehall's castle, they all testified that Wisteria had only been helpful. She had given them moral support during a time that was absolutely mentally agonizing.

Wisteria wrote to Lucy a few days later to let her know that she had managed to find her old girlfriend. They were not together yet, but at least they were talking and trying to patch up the feelings that had clashed during their horrific time in the maze. Lucy hoped the best for them.

When Lucy looked out the window, she saw a man with black hair in a white coat walking down the street toward her apartment. Her heart leaped. Was it him? However, when the man came nearer, she realized it was someone else, not Gray. She sat back down. She was really eager … and scared. She did not know what to expect. She wanted to see Gray, yet at the same time she was so afraid. If he rejected her, if he had lost interest during his time learning under Whitehall, or if he had changed too drastically, what then?

"I wish I knew what to do, or at least what to expect," she sighed.

"Expect a date. Let's go to the ice cream parlor."

She leaped at those words, and when she turned around, she saw Gray standing in the middle of her room … missing a shirt, naturally. "How did you get in here?" she cried out.

"You didn't lock your door. That's not safe, you know."

"But I … I would've heard it open."

"Well, you would've," he agreed with a smug gleam to his eyes. "Except—" He folded his arms over his chest in a cocky gesture. "—I froze time."

"What?"

The next thing she knew, Gray was directly in front of her, his lips already pressed against hers. She did not even have time to react before realizing he was kissing her.

He pulled back with a mischievous smile, "It's a really handy thing to learn."

"Gray!"

"I can really get used to this."

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Then how about this?" Suddenly, Lucy realized that she was in complete silence. She looked outside: birds had stopped in the sky, and that man she mistook as Gray was in the midst of stepping, his foot frozen mid-stride.

"How…? Wh-what?" she stuttered.

He had a smug smile. "I froze time for everyone except us."

She looked around at him in shock. "You froze time?" she cried out. "For the whole world?"

"Well, this particular spell doesn't really work that way. It's a time-affecting magic. We're perceiving time at a faster rate than those around us while not aging any quicker."

Lucy looked at her clock. Very slowly, at the speed hours normally went by, the second hand on her clock crept forward. Time was still in motion, but very slow. Or more accurately, they were moving very quickly.

"This is incredible!" she cried out.

"It's one of the tricks he taught me," Gray explained. "It's how that insane bastard taught me everything he knows without me turning into an old man. He couldn't always cast this spell while teaching me a completely different spell, so he taught me time-affecting magic first. That way I could cast the spell to change the time-flow, while he worked with me on true time-freezing."

"You learned _two_ different types of magic?" she cried out.

"Four, actually," he grinned, just a little arrogant. He could hardly wait to brag about this to Natsu and beat that damn Fire Dragon Slayer with his newly acquired skills.

"Gray…" Lucy began to laugh as she looked around and realized the power he had.

"I can freeze time for you." He cradled her cheek in his hand. "I can give you—give both of us—all the time in the world."

He bent over, and his lips pressed gently against hers. She melted into his kiss, craving more. Lucy wrapped her arms around Gray and pulled him closer.

Oh, how he missed it! On one hand, it felt like fifty years had passed trapped with that madman. Yet on the other hand, it felt like just last week he had whispered _I love you_ , freed her from her icy prison, and kissed her until she sneezed.

As he kissed her with all of his love, Gray felt something like a curse breaking. Suddenly, all that time spent learning time-affecting magic and time-freezing really did seem like a mere week. Was this also part of Whitehall's magic? The old man had said something about _one last spell_ just before the Magic Council guards trapped his wrists in magic-sealing handcuffs.

Maybe—just maybe—that lunatic really was a romantic who wanted to see the lovers who entered his labyrinth have a happy ending. Perhaps this kiss was also a rule, like "Say I love you to break the spell." Maybe at the very end, Whitehall had allowed Gray to not feel those fifty years of painful loneliness, and instead it all sped by in his mind, a blur lost in accelerated time.

His lips pulled back, and he gazed at her. She was radiant, like pure white snow glistening in the sunlight. Hardly had Lucy caught her breath when he eagerly cupped the back of her neck and pulled her in again, giving her a deeper kiss. He tasted the lemon and honey tea she had earlier, inhaled her strawberry shampoo scent, and inundated himself with everything that was _Lucy_.

She moaned softly, feeling that soft, moist tongue plunge into her, claiming her, desiring everything of her. Her heart was racing, her mind felt dizzy, and she just wanted to collapse into him. As if sensing her faintness, Gray grabbed her tighter, clutching her to his chest. She was so warm, so soft, like verdant Spring easing the bitterness of Winter!

Their reunion kiss lingered, yet time was of no importance anymore. He could have kissed her non-stop for fifty years. Finally, breathless and trembling with happiness, he pulled back and just gazed at her, still overwhelmed at seeing her again. Fifty years, seven days, he wasn't sure how long it had been, but either way, it was too long away from her. He stroked through her golden hair and down her flushed cheek. Sure, he wanted more than mere kisses, but as he said before, they had all the time in the world.

"So, how does ice cream sound?" he asked.

"Uh, sure…" she whispered, her mind trapped in a lovestruck fog.

"Come on," he smiled. "I owe you"

She blinked out of her daze. "Owe me?

"I'm late," he shrugged. "It's been seven days and two hours. Even with time-freezing, those old bastards in the Magic Council talked way too slowly. I broke a rule, so I owe you," he grinned.

She laughed. "We never really promised _when_ you were due back home." She hugged him and leaned against Gray's bare chest. "I think we can bend that rule just a little."

He embraced her and rested his cheek against the top of her head. "No, even implied rules should be followed. I failed you once. I swear, I'll never be late again"

"But…"

"No. I … I _won't_ fail you again. I swear," he insisted. "I'll always be here by you." He tipped her chin up and gazed into her large, brown eyes. "Until the end of time."

She eyed him suspiciously. How he said that was just a little strange. "Gray?" Her lips twisted, sensing a power in him that was not there before. "Just how much _time_ do we have together now?"

He laughed with a smile that was both endearing and devious. He knew the answer, but it was best to surprise her. How much _time_? They had a lifetime, many lifetimes, an eternity if they wanted. Time was no longer an issue.

"We have enough time to do anything and everything we've ever wanted." He squeezed her hands in his. "I can freeze time … and give you an eternity of love."

She blushed at what he was implying. Eternity? Together? "Gray … really, you don't have to freeze time for me. We can live life normally."

"A single lifetime isn't enough for me. If I spent fifty years with that lunatic, I want to spend ten times as much time with you!"

"W-wait! Five hundred years?" she cried out.

"Child's play," he smirked.

The way he said it sounded familiar. Lucy realized that, after five decades of perceived time with that old man, Gray had picked up a few of the mannerisms of Whitehall. He had changed just a little, proof that he really had spent a long time in training to free the people caught by that labyrinth.

At least he was not crazy like Whitehall. He was the same Gray, although the way he stared so hard at her made her embarrassed and caused her heart to flutter.

"It's … too much," she whispered.

"Too much? I could never get too much of you, Lucy."

He tilted her chin up and gave her a soft kiss. All of her worries froze and shattered, leaving her warm and tingling. Their kiss lingered … how long? An hour? A week? Did it matter anymore? They were together, he had Lucy in his arms again, and she was alive, warm, breathtaking. This was the girl he had loved for so long, even before that maze forced him to realize just how deeply he had fallen for her.

Outside, time resumed, birds sang, the wind blew a favonian breeze that promised warmth. Winter was ending, and Spring was on its way. Soon the snows would melt, the sakura would bloom, a new year would toll. Time moved on. Now, Gray knew he wanted to spend the rest of time with Lucy beside him.

He fought for her, he was willing to die for her, and now…

As they smiled and rubbed their noses together in joy, Gray felt this was worth the diabolical maze, the pain of injuries, the slow starvation, and the poisoning that nearly killed him. Now, he had heaven. He had her!

"I can't believe you're really here," Lucy said, sniffling back tears of happiness.

Gray stared lovingly into her eyes. "I told you before, didn't I?" he whispered, and he gave her a sweet kiss. "I'd freeze the heavens for you."

**The End**


End file.
